Stories by the Fire
by Faerie in Combat Boots
Summary: In honor of Halloween I will have a very special advent. One Avatar style scary story for each day of the month ending on the 31st! All your favorite scary stories rewritten to fit the Avatar world!
1. Spirit's Night

The gang, plus Zuko and Iroh basked in the sunset colored glow of the fire. It was autumn, the leaves on the trees matched the fire in color. They had defeated Ozai that summer, but still had some work to do restoring peace and controlling violence.

It was a chilly night, and it seemed it was filled with spirits. It felt like eyes were all around them. It was not a pleasant night to be outside.

"I don't like the feeling of this place," Sokka said, stroking his boomerang.

"I don't know why, it gives me the creeps"

"It was fine before sunset," Katara added.

"I wonder why it feels like this now?"  
Iroh put down his teacup at looked around at the youths.

"Do you not know what tonight is?" He asked eyebrows raised.

"It is Spirits Night. It is celebrated in both the Earth Kingdom and Fire Nation alike. It is a night when spirits leave their realm."

"We don't have anything like that," Katara said.

"In Winter we have a feast to honor our dead and show respect to them. How is Spirits Night Celebrated?"

Iroh opened his mouth to answer, but Zuko in a moment unlike him replied first.

"We would have bonfires to scare away the bad spirits and welcome the good. We would have different kinds of food. We'd play games to and tell frightening stories," He said in his usual low voice.

"That sounds like what we do in the Earth Kingdom" Toph said.

"We do the exact same stuff. But I'm sure the stories are different"

Aang, who was petting Momo looked up suddenly, as if remembering something.

"The Air Nomads celebrated Spirit Night! We used to leave the temples and go down to any villages nearby wearing masks and go to each house and ask for sweets, then we'd return to the temple and eat them. It was a lot of fun!" He chirped.

"This holiday sounds like fin," Sokka said a grin spreading on his face.

"Let's celebrate it right now!" Aang said excitedly.

"Sokka and Katara have never celebrated it!"

"We are not going to beg for sweets" Toph and Zuko said at the same time.

"No, I mean let's tell some stories. We have a fire, we have leechy nuts to roast, I'm sure we'll have fun and keep the bad spirits away!" Aang said. He was excited, scooting back and forth on his air scooter.

"Sounds wonderful" Iroh said smiling.

"I'll start the first story"


	2. The Firebender's Wife

This one is based of a Japanese ghost story.

* * *

The youths huddled closer to the as Iroh began his tale…

" _A long time ago in the Fire Nation there was a Master Firebender. He had a gorgeous wife who had just given him a son. But he had grown tired of her and wanted to wed another woman._

_Now in order to rid himself of his wife he gave her a special poison. It made her hideous. Her lustrous black hair fell out and her pretty ruby colored lips turned black, the flesh around her eyes dropped of, causing her eyes to bulge"_ Iroh began.

Sokka made a choked noise of disgust.

"_Now that she had turned hideous, The Firebender felt he could could rid himself of her guilt free. He thrust her from him, and refused to look upon her"_

"That jerk!" Katara exclaimed.

"Don't interrupt," Zuko scolded. He'd never told anyone but secretly Zuko loved hearing Iroh tell stories.

"Thank you Zuko, but that wasn't necessary. I agree with Miss Katara," Iroh said. Zuko scowled. 'Water Brat.' He thought.

"_In her grief riddled with madness, the poor wife killed her infant and then herself. Now the Firbender was free at last! Or so he thought…" _Iroh continued.

"_The woman's ghost began to follow him wherever he went. In the courtyard, he would see her clutching her infant, wailing and pointing at him with accusation. He would go to teahouse only to see her screaming face in the lanterns. Wherever he went his wife's ghost was there, eyes bulging, black mouth open. _

But he went ahead with marrying his lover. The wedding day finally came. He was sure if he got married, then the ghost would leave."

"Well then what happened?" Aang asked.

"_On the wedding day, after the ceremony the Firebender went to lift the viel from his new bride's headress, to reveal her face. But instead of her face was the visage of the ghost! Scared and determined to rid himself of the ghost, he blasted fire at the face of the ghost._

But the ghost had won. There lying before him was his new wife, dead, her head burned black."

Iroh finished his tale and sat back. The youths looked disturbed, even Zuko.

"Remind me," Sokka began.

"Not to cause any trouble for whoever I marry,"

"Same here." Zuko said.

"So who's telling the next story?" Aang asked changing the subject.

"I am" Toph grinned.


	3. Dingbang the Liver Thief

**Hey pretties! I did research and Dingbang is a real chinese name! Woot!**

* * *

They all looked over to Toph, who had a devious smile plastered on her smooth face.

"What story will you tell?" Katara asked softly.

"It's a story we like to tell in The Earth Kingdom about a boy named Dingbang" Toph began. She was interuppted by Sokka giggling.

"Dingbang! What a funny name!" He squealed.

"Shut up Snoozeles!" she scolded, bending rocks to hit him in the head.

"Let me continue"

_"A long time ago there was a Earthbending boy named Dingbang. He loved to go to Earthbending tournaments and compete._

_One day he was on his way to see one, but his mother stopped him._

'_Dingbang my son, I need you to buy some liver for tonight's dinner! No time for a Tournament!' she said._

'_But mother, I must see this tournament!' he begged._

'_No' she insisted. He reluctantly gave in and left._

_But he did not keep his promise. He went to the Earthbending Tournament anyway. The whole time he thought: 'Maybe I should go to the butcher for that liver now' but remained stayed to fight._

_When the Tournament was over it was nighttime. All the shops were closed, including the butcher's. _

'_What shall I do!" he moaned. 'If I come home empty handed then I shall have a beating!'_

_And then a terrible thought came to his mind."_

Toph paused to let them all wonder what the thought was. She felt Aang shift himself towards her. She could hear Iroh sip his tea. Then Sokka broke the silence.

"This isn't very scary," he said grumbling.

"The story isn't finished yet stupid" Toph growled.

"Let me continue my story. Trust me, by the end you'll be wetting yourself"

"_Dingbang looked over towards the cemetary. He had heard someone had just been buried there. A fresh body. If he could not obtain an animal's liver then he could possibly go to the graveyard and get one."_

"Ewww!" Katara exclaimed.

"A human liver!"

"Quiet Sugar Queen" Toph Scolded.

"_He went to the graveyard and found the new grave. He bended the dirt from the grave and cut open the shroud of the body with his knife. Then he stole the liver._

_He brought it home to his mother, who fried it up with rice and cabbages. Everyone ate the liver with enthusiasm that night, except for Dingbang, who knew the sick truth._

_That night as he slept he was awakened by a strange voice._

'_Dingbang…I want my liver back…Dingbang I want it now. I'm at your front door'_

_He was frightened, but sure he was dreaming so he tried to go back to sleep. But then he heard that voice again._

'_Dingbang, I want my liver back… Dingbang I want it now. I'm at the bottom of the stair"  
He was very frightened but shook it off."_

As Toph told the story, Sokka and the others were starting to get scared. The tension of the story crept up on them, like insects.

"_But poor Dingbang heard the voice still._

'_Dingbang, I want my liver back! Dingbang I'm at the top of stairs. DingBang, give me my liver!'_

_Now he was wide awake and frightened! He was wishing he'd never taken that liver, that he'd listened to his mother._

'_Dingbang, I want my liver back! I'm at your bedroom door! I want my liver, I want it now!'_

_The voice was angry. Dingbang hunched down under his blanket and fearing for his life._

"_Dingbang, I want my liver back! Dingbang, I'm at the foot of your bed. I want my liver. And you know what? I'm taking yours!'"_

Toph screamed that last line out, arms up. Sokka gave an unwarrior like scream and leapt, nearly crushing Aang.

"_From that day on, all of Dingbang's children and grandchildren were born without livers"_

Toph finished her story with that. Aang and Sokka were hugging eachother. Katara looked over at them both and knew without a doubt what voice those two would be listening for tonight. Not that she wasn't frightened by the story.

Iroh nodded at the story. I was a good yarn indeed, who knew the Blind Bandit was a storyteller. He looked at his nephew, who seemed a little spooked, but not as badly as Aang or Sokka.

"You were scared weren't you?" Toph teased.

"I can feel it"

"SHUT UP!" Shouted Sokka.

"It's my turn to frighten you all!"


	4. The Legend of the Wen Di Go

**Hello my lovelies. If you read the last Chapter Sokka is telling the story. Not Zuko. I do not take fangirly requests like "Oooh add more Zuko! Make him tell the story! Raaah!" I'm a writer, an artist. I do not provide fanservice. However I might need some help finding stories. Oh and I put a bit of clever word play in here. Find it and win a prize!**

* * *

"All right Sokka, tell us a story that will scare us all. And the story about finding a hair on your seal jerky is not scary by the way" Katara said arms crossed. Zuko and Toph alike smirked at her words. The pair loved it whenever Katara wounded Sokka's 'manly' pride.

Sokka scowled at his sister for a brief moment then began.

"_We have a story amongst hunters of the Water Tribe about an evil spirit named Wen Di Go. They say he's fifteen feet tall with long yellow fangs and great glowing eyes."_

"I've heard of him," Aang interrupted, rubbing his chin.

"So have I" Iroh added.

"Rumor has it a Wen Di Go is created when a person resorts to Cannibalism. They become so twisted they become a demon"

"Well I don't know if that's true," Sokka said, frowning.

"Now let me continue, the Legend of the Wen Di Go is a tale that must only be told by Water Tribe Men"

"_Long ago, a group of hunters had gone in search of The Wooly Ice Elephant, an animal now extinct to the world. They traveled far away from the village, far out onto the tundra. _

_Before they left they were warned by The Elders to watch out for the Wen Di Go._

"_Ha why should we be careful?" They had scoffed._

" _The Wen Di Go is merely a tale told to children to frighten them out of wandering away! We shouldn't worry"_

_But now as they sat in their shelter they weren't so sure that the Wen Di Go was just a story"_

Katara sat shivering with fear. Every time her father or Bato told this story she would be so frightened she couldn't sleep for days, afraid the Wen Di Go would come for her. Every time that happened her mother would draw her onto her lap and remind her that she was safe and she and her father wouldn't dare let the Wen Di Go into the igloo without a fight. The her mother would tickle her and say:

"Can you imagine the Wen Di Go up against your Gran Gran? The poor thing wouldn't stand a chance!"

"_One night they sat up listening to the wind howl across the tundra. One hunter in particular named Dego seemed deeply disturbed by the weather. His face was a pale as snow and he sat curled up, as far away from the entrance of the shelter as possible. He could be heard muttering:_

"_My feet, my feet my burning feet of fire" but nobody was sure why. Then they all heard a howling echoing voice call: 'Deeeeegooo, Deeeeegooo" and poor Dego would cry louder: "My feet my feet my burning feet of fire!" Then he made a dash for the entrance of the shelter as if to escape. He was restrained and they decided to guard him until the morning, when they could return him to the village."_

Katara knew the scary part would be coming soon. In her fear she moved closer to the person nearest her. That person happened to be Zuko. She moved close enough so their legs touched and her hand unintentionally covered his.

Zuko felt someone warm move close to him, something soft touch his hand. He looked over and saw the Water Bender. Then she looked up at him. They stared at each other, eyes wide. Neither of them spoke. Katara edged away and muttered softly: "Sorry, this story's really scary" Zuko, who was finding this story a bit scary himself shrugged and in a move very much unlike him moved closer to her. The only one who saw this was Iroh, who grinned.

"_They must have fallen asleep because the next morning they found Dego gone. They stepped out of the shelter and saw footprints only they were scorched black, melted ice and snow surrounding. In the distance they could hear Dego's voice: "My feet my feet my burning feet of fire!"_

_Curious and afraid they followed the footprints. But they noticed that the foot prints got longer and longer, so long they weren't even human! Then they abruptly stopped as if the owner was these prints had been lifted into the sky. Scared they returned to camp to pack up and leave for home. When they returned they saw a huddled shape wrapped in a blanket and parka. Sure to be Dego. They said his name, but he did not reply. Finally a brave young hunter yanked they blanket away, The parka fell to the ground and when they lifted that all that remained was a pile of ashes that had once been Dego,"_

Sokka finished his tale. He noticed Katara sitting close to Zuko eyes wide with fear. Aang looked confused.

"What happened to Dego?" he asked innocently.

"What do you think? The Wen Di Go dragged him along the tundra until her his feet burnt then lifted him into the air! The speed they went at reduced Dego to ashes!" Sokka replied irritably.

"Oh" was all Aang said, frightened.

They all sat silent, deeply disturbed by Sokka's story. Sokka was disturbed too, but the story was it. He was disturbed by how close Zuko and his little sister were sitting to eachother.


	5. The Crying Woman

**Hey everyone. I know I said I wouldn't take requests, but this was an idea I had anyway. The O.W.M.I.N has given me a great idea and I thank her greatly! In addition, I notice some are upset by my slight Zutara moment. I will not apologize for writing one paragraph of Zutara. Just because they're sitting close doesn't mean they're going to get married and have five billion Zutara Babies. I was adding some character interaction. Remember, I'm the writer and I control all that happens in this story.**

* * *

Katara stood up, stepping away from Zuko. She had a story to tell. One she had been told when she and Sokka were young, another cautionary story that all Water Tribe kids knew.

"There is a story in the Water Tribe that the mothers tell their children. It is the tale of The Crying Woman. It is a story of love, betrayal and murder and a warning to children to stay away from the sea at night," Katara began.

"_There was a young woman named Miyax. She was not of high standing in the tribe nor was she very beautiful. But she was kind and gentle and loved her people. One day, some Tribesmen from the North Pole came to visit the South Pole, where Miyax lived. They were on business for the Chief at the North Pole, who wanted to know how his sister tribe was faring. One particular man with them was a Waterbender by the name of Shango. He was very handsome! She watched him while she worked, wishing he would notice her. She wore her best parka, braided her hair elaborately. Soon enough, he began to notice her. They talked everyday and eventually fell in love. They could not get married but that did not stop them. Soon enough she was with child. Because the men from the North were to stay a long time, Shango saw the birth of his twin sons._

_For some years, they were a very happy family, though they weren't married…"_

"Katara?" Aang Interrupted.

"Yes Aang?" She replied a little peeved that he interrupted her.

"Why couldn't they marry? Couldn't he just make a betrothal necklace?" Aang asked.

"Let me get to that part" Katara growled.

"_They were very happy. But Shango was keeping a secret from Miyax. You see, he was betrothed to the chief's daughter and as soon as he returned the two would be wed. _

_The day before he was to leave for The North Pole, he took Miyax aside and told her the truth. _

'_I will still love you,' he told her as she wept._

_ After he left the next day, she took he two sons for a walk along the shore, far away from the village. There, in her grief and jealousy induced madness she drowned her sons to spite Shango. After she drowned them and the sea washed their little bodies away did she finally realize what she had just done. She began to wail and scream and sob crying: "My children my children!" before drowning herself. "_

"How terrible" Iroh sighed shaking his gray head.

"_To this day, you can still hear her along the shore crying for her lost children. Children who wander along the shore she haunts often disappear. It is believed that she drags them to the sea, screaming to join her children. And that is why children of the Water Tribe must never go to the shore alone" _Katara finished.

Everyone sat in silence. Finally, Iroh said:

"And that is why the wrath of a woman must never be incurred. For they often have fatal results"


	6. The Wolf Girl

"I think I'd like to tell a story," Aang announced pushing Momo off his lap and standing.

"Go ahead," Katara said smiling. She wondered what stories Aang knew. He must know some she had never heard before!

"This is a story King Bumi told me. He says it's true but I'm not so sure," Aang began.

"_A long time ago there was a man named Lang who had a beautiful wife named Chiyo. They moved from Ba Sing Se to an unsettled part of the Earth Kingdom. Lang worked the land, while Chiyo kept a lovely home. Their nearest neighbors were ten miles away. They were very happy." _

"This doesn't sound scary" Zuko growled.

"It sounds like a fairy tale" Toph scoffed.

"It'll get scary" Aang said, hurt.

"I'm sure it will" Katara said reassuringly putting a hand on his shoulder.

He smiled at her hand on his shoulder and her reassuring smile. Then he continued.

"_Soon Chiyo was going to have a baby. When she went into labor, Lang hopped onto his ostrich horse and went to fetch the neighbor and his wife to help his wife give birth. It was ten miles away and Lang could see a storm in the distance. Quickly he fetched his neighbor and his wife and they made their way back to the house. On the way there, they were hit by a storm. Unfortunately Lang was hit by lightening and killed." _

He heard Katara give a gasp. But no one else did. At least Katara had a reaction.

"_They quickly buried Lang and rode at breakneck speed to his house. There they found Chiyo dead, having died while birthing. There was no sign of the baby. They believed wolves had carried the baby off."_

"I think I know this story," Iroh said.

"It is very good and I believe it to be very true. Continue Aang, I never get enough of this one"

"Thank you Iroh," Aang smiled.

"_Years past. Chickens and goats in the village that had blossomed nearby started disappearing. Everyone was sure it was wolves._

_One day some Earthbenders were practicing in a field when they saw something bizarre. They saw a young girl with black tangled hair falling to her waist. She had no clothes and was running with a pack of wolves._

_They told the villagers of this wolf girl and nobody believed them. But soon they would. More people would see this 'Wolf Girl' as she was dubbed running about with the pack, eating raw meat, howling at the moon. Some guessed she was about 6 years old, the same age Lang and Chiyo's child would've been. Then it occurred to them. This could be their child stolen by the wolves. But how could anyone tell?_

_Soon enough the women in the village began to feel sad for the Wolf Girl, lamenting that she was a poor naked orphan who needed a home. So they convinced the village men to capture the girl so they could raise her like a human rather than a wolf. _

_They set a trap for the Wolf Girl which she fell for easily. They bound her with ropes and brought her to the house of a widow who'd agreed to raise the child. They kept the girl in a room bound until they were completely sure what to do with her. This girl didn't react well at all. She howled and gnawed at her bonds. Finally chewing herself free she scratched at the walls. Then she slipped out the windows. She was gone._

_For a long time no one saw her._

_Then many years later some young earthbenders saw a young woman of twenty with long black hair covering her naked body feeding some wolf cubs. When she spotted the benders she picked up the cubs and ran. Then she was never seen again. The end"_

"That wasn't scary" Toph muttered.

"You know things like that have happened. There have been children raised by Bears and wolves for years. And with the war and an increase of Orphans it happens more often." Iroh said softly.

"Now I do believe Zuko has a story to tell"


	7. The Two Sisters

**A shamisen is a Japanese guitar to those who do not know. It makes a cool sound amd plays pretty music!**

* * *

Everyone looked over at Zuko. He looked down, suddenly shy. He didn't like performing. He wasn't very good at it.

"What's your story about?" Katara asked warmly.

"Um two sisters," he said in his low voice.

"I'd like to hear it," She said with a reassuring grin.

"Don't be so shy. We've all told a story and now it's your turn."

Zuko looked up at her smiling countenance and then at Iroh's approving nod. He could do it now.

"As you know my sister isn't so easily frightened or discouraged. When we were kids I found one story that really scared her. It scared her so much that the next morning after I told it to her, that my parents found her snuggled between them in their bed." Zuko began.

Sokka chuckled imagining the raven-haired princess with the cold gaze as a scaredy cat.

"_My story is about two Fire Nation sisters. Both were classic Fire Nation beauties with the hair black as raven wings and hazel eyes. However the younger sister's hair always seemed to have more luster, her eyes were like liquid gold. She was slender, graceful and delicate. Everyone who met her loved her. Naturally the older sister was jealous of the younger, though the younger didn't even know it. The Older Sister's face always seemed clouded with dark thoughts and she was always plotting for though she was not as pretty as the younger sister she was just as clever. _

_One day a nephew of the Fire Lord came to their Estate, to seeking to court one of the daughters. By tradition and out of courtesy he paid some attention to the Elder Sister but his heart lay with the Younger Sister. This made The Older Sister murderously jealous. She shot dark looks and muttered curses at her sister, but her little sister was naïve and didn't notice._

_ One day, The Elder Sister finally devised a plan to rid herself of her sister and win the young nobleman._

_ She invited her sister to a walk along the river, just the two of them. As they walked The Younger Sister chatted on and on about The Young Nobleman, not noticing her sister's evil gaze, blissfully unaware of her own doom. She wandered close along the edge, chattering, eyes to the sky. She wasn't even looking at her sister. The Elder Sister took her chance. With a mighty shove she knocked her sister into the river where the current held her under. The Younger Sister bobbed about helplessly pleading to be saved by her sister only stood arms crossed, her face dark. Finally the current pulled her under one last time, pinning her. Then all went black._

_ The Elder sister returned to the estate in a false distress, wailing that her sister had drowned and there was nothing that she could do. Everyone mourned and the Nobleman in his grief went to seek solace in the arms of the Older Sister who accepted it gladly."_

"So does the older sister get away with it?" Aang interrupted.

"Of course she doesn't" Toph retorted.

"No one does,"

'If you let me finish," Zuko began, growling

"Maybe you'll find out"

"Sorry," Said Aang sheepishly.

_ "The Younger Sister's Body floated down the river. One day a miller and a young bard who was staying with him saw the body on the river, still lovely. The body washed up along the bank among the reeds and the fished her out._

'_She is beautiful even in death' The Bard remarked admiring her raven black hair. _

'_Look at that skin, it shines like the moon and it's just as pale!"_

' _We must bury her properly' The Miller said._

'_We shall but not before I take some of this hair'_

_Before they buried her the Bard cut some of her hair and wound it into the strings of his Shamisen. Then he left to travel the Fire Nation and play his music._

_As fate would have it he came to the same Estate as the sisters. He was welcomed warmly and begged to play a song._

_As he reached for his shamisen, the strings began to vibrate. The shamisen began to play on it's own and a familiar voice filled the hall. _

"_Woe to my noble father" It sang_

_The Elder Sister's eyes widened in terror._

'_Woe to my lady mother" It warbled_

_And finally in a grave and dark tone:_

"_And woe to my sister who murdered me.""_

Zuko sighed. That was his favorite ghost story. Sibling rivalry always had a special place in his heart. Everyone looked around, obviously disturbed.

"After that," Iroh said breaking the silence.

"Azula could never go near another Shamisen again"


	8. Rattling Coins

"I think I'll tell another," Toph said popping a leechy nut in her mouth.

"What'll this story be about?" Aang asked.

"You'll see," Toph grinned.

"_An old lady got very sick and died. She was a widow with no living family at all so her neighbors washed her body and dressed her in her fine silk robes. Because she had died with her eyes open they kept them closed by covering them with two gold coins they found in her wardrobe._

_When the carpenter who had made her coffin returned to nail it shut he saw those two gold coins and eyed them greedily._

_'How shiny they are! I want them so!' he said breathlessly. He plucked them off the old lady's eyes and bounced them in his palm. Then he noticed the old lady's eyes wide open and staring at nothing. It disturbed him but he wanted those coins. So he quickly nailed the coffin lid on so he wouldn't be able to see her eyes._

_'Ha! Now you can't see anything," He said pocketing the coins._

_That night, it was very windy" The wind howled and moaned making a whistling noise. But it was not a pleasant noise that's for sure._

_The man put the gold coins in little tin and put them on his bedside table. Then he tried to go to sleep." _

"Then what?" Katara asked wide-eyed. She knew something spooky was going to happen. You don't steal from the dead without consequences.

_"In the middle of the night he woke and heard a rattling, the sound of those coins being shaken in their tin. The wind howled and howled. Then he heard a voice._

_'Who's got my money? Who? Who?'_

_The coins rattled louder and the wind howled louder._

'_Who's got my money? Who? Who?"_

_The man was very frightened and clutched his blankets in terror as the voice asked again:_

"_Who's got my money? Who? Who?"_

"_Oh Gods Above!" He wailed._

_The wind howled louder, the coins rattled and rattled, and the voice kept asking: "Who's got my money? Who? Who?"_

_And the man cried: "Gods above!"_

_The bursting through the door in a rush of wind was the Old Woman her eyes wide open but seeing nothing. _

"_Who got my money! Who? Who?"_

_Then with a long pale finger she pointed at the Man and said:_

"_YOU'VE GOT IT!""_

With that Toph tackled Sokka, who hadn't been expecting it. He gave a scream so high-pitched and girly that someone wandering the woods would've thought it was a woman. But it was just Sokka.

Everyone clapped at Toph's storytelling while Sokka began to hyperventilate, begging Toph to "Never do that again".

When he had calmed down, Toph gave a mighty laugh and said:

"Some mighty warrior you are"


	9. Katara's Corpse Bride

This story is the original Russian version of The Corpse Bride told long before the movie was made. It is now told Water Tribe style. Enjoy!

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"I'm a fine warrior!" Sokka protested. Toph had just wounded his pride. 

"You just surprised me by jumping on me!"

"I know, I know!" Toph laughed.

"Okay who's next? How about you Sugar Queen? You tell good stories,"

"Okay, I know a story that we Water Tribe Women like to tell each other, especially before a wedding. Everyone knows it but it's mostly popular amongst the women." Katara said.

"Oh you know it'll be scary then. The dreaded tale of The Day All the Women Ran Out of Thread or The Day Katara Broke a Nail!" Sokka said sarcastically.

"Shut up Sokka!" Katara scowled, sending a water whip Sokka's way.

"_A long time ago a young man was to be betrothed. The day before his Betrothal Ceremony He and the other hunters were out hunting for the feast. They made camp near a great iceberg. While there, the Young Man noticed something strange. There was a strange pillar rising from the ice._

"_Look," said one of his friends._

'_You can practice putting the Betrothal Necklace on your intended with that pillar of ice!"_

_The man found it a great idea and did as his friend said. The necklace fit on the ice pillar perfectly._

'_Now do the Betrothal Chant!" One of his friends joked._

_They were in high spirits and laughing the Young man did the chant over the ice pillar and dance around it three times._

_Suddenly the ice beneath them began to shake violently. The Young Man jumped back in surprise. The ice began to crack and suddenly rising from it was a corpse. The Ice had preserved her body but she was obviously dead. Her skin and lips were blue and her dark hair was stringy. Her eyes held no life. She wore a tattered Wedding Parka stained in blood. It appeared she had been murdered and the ice and snow had frozen over her body. The betrothal necklace was clutched in her cold hand. She fastened it around her neck._

_"You have made the vows and done the dance. Now I demand we be wed immediately,"_

_The young men screamed and took off running. They returned to their village frightened. They ran to the Village Chief and asked:_

_"Suppose one of us did the Betrothal Dance and said the Chant and then placed the betrothal necklace on the wrist of a frozen corpse would you say it's binding?"_

"_Did one of you do this?" The Chief asked._

_Of course not!" they cried._

"_Let me think on it then" The chief said._

_Then a gust of wind blew the leather flap of the lodge open and in came the Corpse Bride, in her bloody Parka, her blue skin startling against the white of her fur collar._

"_I lay claim to this man for he has said the Betrothal Vows and given me the necklace!" She cried showing the chief the Necklace Stark against her blue skin._

"_Let me consult the Elders" The chief said. He went to another lodge to speak with the Elders. The Bride Stood outside that lodge much to the wonder of all declaring:  
"I want my rights as a wife! I want my wedding!""_

"Wait a minute!" Zuko cried interrupting.

"Does that mean if he marries her the does that mean..."

Katara blushed a faint pink while Aang looked questioningly at Zuko.

"I'd rather not answer that," she said softly.

"_The young man shivered at the thought of such a thing. While the Elders talked The Real Bride Arrived demanding to know what was going on. The Young Man explained the situation to her and she began to weep, saying: "Oh my life is ruined! I shall never have my betrothed, never be wed, never have a family!"_

_The Elders came out of the lodge and asked:_

"_So you did the dance, said the voice and placed the Betrothal Necklace on her wrist encased in ice?" _

"_We thought it resembled a neck," The young man muttered._

_The Elders went to confer again. Meanwhile the True Bride wept and wept while The Corpse Bride gloated at the prospect of finally being wed._

_Finally the Elders returned and said:_

"_Since you gave the Corpse Bride the necklace and did the dance and said the vows this constitutes as a true Betrothal Ceremony. But we have decided that the dead have no claim over the living. The Betrothal is null"_

_The Young Man and His Bride were much relieved but the Corpse Bride gave a keening howl and cried: "I shall never be wed now! My dreams have been stolen from me! They're forever lost!" With that she collapsed to the ground in a heap, no longer an animated corpse. It was pathetic to see, a dead girl in a tattered bloody parka lying in the snow._

_The Real Bride was quite moved and tears in her eyes, knelt over the body. She cradled the Corpse Bride in her arms like an infant and crooned to her: "Don't worry, don't worry, I will live my life twice as much for you, I will have twice as many children for you, I will tell our children and grandchildren of you, so you shall never be forgotten."_

_She closed the Corpse's eyes and wrapped her in a pure white fur. She let the Betrothal Necklace that had been meant for herself remain around The Corpse Bride's neck. _

_Then she carried the dead bride down to the sea and placed her in her own small boat that had been made for her wedding. She crossed the Bride's arms over her chest, the finger tips touch the stone on the betrothal necklace, then arranged her in her tattered parka and her new white fur._

"_We will not forget you," she murmured._

_The Bride looked happy and at peace in her new fur lying in the boat as if she knew her dreams would be fulfilled for her. The Chief said Death Ceremony words and then they sent the boat off, back to the Ocean Spirit._

_The Young Man made another Necklace. They pair were betrothed then wed and they had many years together. The Young Woman had enough Children for both her and the Corpse Bride. Her children and her grandchildren and so forth knew the tale of the Corpse Bride, and told it often so she would not be forgotten and nor would the kindness and compassion they were taught by The Young Woman be forgotten. And that is why we tell the tale of the Corpse Bride to this day,"  
_

Katara finished the tale tears welling in her eyes. She noticed she wasn't the only one. Aang had tears in his eyes, so did Iroh. She was sure she briefly saw Zuko rubbing at he eye as if wiping away a stray tear.

"I know another version of that tale," Iroh said softly.

"But I will not tell it just yet. First, I would like to hear my nephew tell another"


	10. The Girl who Stood on a Grave

**Sorry I didn't update yesterday. I had a really bad migraine and couldn't get on the computer. So to make up for it, I'm updating double.**

* * *

Zuko looked down at his boots. He really didn't like telling stories to people. The last story, well he liked telling that one, because it was the only one that scared his sister.

He looked up and saw the eager faces of the others. Iroh's reassuring nod, Katara's soft smile, Aang's wide eyes and innocent smile. Toph and Sokka however merely looked bored.

"Well…" Zuko began.

"_Some boys and girls about my age were at a party. They were all discussing how creepy the graveyard nearby was._

_'Don't ever go in there after dark and stand on a grave. Whoever is underneath will pull you in' One boy said._

'_Hah! That's a silly superstition!" One girl laughed._

'_If it's such a superstition, then go out there right now and stand on a grave. I will give you one gold piece if you do,'_

_The girl, eager at the thought of even one gold piece agreed. But before she left he gave her a knife._

_'Plunge this into the ground after you've stood on a grave. That way we will know you were really there.'_

_The girl left clutching the knife in her hand. All around her, graves cast frightening shadows. She jumped at every noise she heard. But she had to prove her bravery, and get a whole gold piece. She choose a grave quickly, stepped onto the soft earth in front of the stone. She stood for one full minute, shaking in fear" _

Zuko looked around. Aang looked frightened and was inching closer to Katara for comfort. She gave him a friendly reassuring smile and pat his shoulder. Zuko's stomach squirmed, he didn't know why.

_"Soon, she decided she had been there long enough! She plunged the knife into the ground and made to leave. But she couldn't. Something had her skirt. Something was holding her back! She screamed in terror, convinced that the grave's occupant was trying to pull her in! She struggled trying to escape, screaming and crying all the while. Then she collapsed to the ground._

_The next morning when she hadn't returned, the others went to the graveyard to find her. They found her at the grave, dead. The knife was in the ground, pinning her skirt. Without realizing it she had plunged the knife into her skirt pinning her where she stood, making her think it had been someone trying to pull into the grave. She had died of fright,"_

Zuko sat up straighter, proud he'd finished his story. Everyone actually looked a little frightened.

"That one was so scary!" Katara exclaimed.

"It really was Zuko. You're good at this story telling thing." She put a hand on his shoulder.

Suddenly, Zuko wanted to tell stories more often.


	11. The Stranger in the Temple

This is based off of an old folk tale from Alabama. The Moonlit Road is a savior of a website!

* * *

"Who wants to tell the next story?" Iroh said smiling.

"I will!" cried Aang jumping up.

"But your last story wasn't scary," Toph snorted.

"I thought it was," Aang pouted.

"It was kind of scary," Katara countered.

"And it is a true story too," Iroh said.

"Sometimes what's true is more frightening than what's not,"

"So tell us a story," Sokka urged.

"Here's another Bumi told me," Aang began.

_"A long time ago, a young man was traveling through the country-side. He had a cart full of dried rice in burlap sacks, on his way to Omashu for trade.__The man's name was Jong Bing._

_ He had been traveling for a very long time and was starting to get tired. Luckily, he saw an old man._

"_Old man! Is there anywhere I can stay for the night?" He called out._

"_There's between here and my town, Peach Springs. But that road that goes through the woods get you there fast. Though I wouldn't go that way,"_

_"Why not," Jong asked._

"_It's haunted," the old man said._

"_Everybody knows that,"  
Jong knew that a lot of old folks liked to tell tall tales. So he merely said:_

"_Thanks Gramps but I'll take my chances" And with that, he steered his cart along the forest path._

_For a short cut, it wasn't very short. He couldn't see a thing. The trees loomed over him, as if judging him and he could hear animals scurrying. Everything seemed stranger in the night._

_Finally, the trees broke to reveal an abandoned temple. He knew the doors must be unlocked for most monks welcomed strangers into the temples to stay the night. Jong tied his ostrich horse team to a tree and went inside. The temple was empty._

_He found a small corner that looked nice to sleep in. He settled himself in it and fell asleep._

_Later he was roused by a thumping noise. He lay quiet thinking it was an animal. He heard it again, only louder. He reached for his lantern but it had gone out. Cursing, he warily stepped out from his corner to see what was going on. He waited for his eyes to adjust to the light and then he saw a small figure dressed in white, crouched by the shrine, rocking back and forth on her heels._

_'Who is there!" He called. But he was only answered by an anguished moan._

_Finally Jong found his flint and tinder and tried to light his lantern, but it did not work. By then the figure had moved closer. It was a young woman with her long stringy hair in her face, in torn white robes. She moaned louder and moved even closer. He could see mud smeared all down the front. He struggled with the tinder and flint and finally lit the lantern. Then he got a horrifying close-up of the woman._

_Her eyes were crazed and bloodshot. Her face was white and cracked like old porcelain. She reached out to touch his face and saw her fingernails were dirty and jagged._

_Jong screamed and ran outside, he could hear her follow him out the temple as he untied his animals. He jumped into his cart as she grabbed his tunic. Then he sped away._

_It took him all night to get to Peach Springs. When he arrived it was dawn. He went to the nearest inn and collapsed in a chair, exhausted. Everyone stared at him. Finally the innkeeper asked if he was alright. Trembling, Jong told his story of the temple ghost._

_"That wasn't a ghost," The Innkeeper said._

"_I think you saw Satsu Tanaka, the magistrate has been looking for her for days."_

_The Innkeeper explained that Satsu was a young woman who had gone insane and was being kept in seclusion by her parents. A year ago, she had given birth to a baby girl out of wedlock. Fearing the town would shun her she killed the infant and buried he in the woods where she would never be found. Eventually the guilt ate at her, making her crazy. Her family kept her inside away from everyone. A few days ago, she cried out that she'd had a change of heart, that she wanted her baby. She cried that she wanted to dig it up, the poor thing lying out in the woods cold and alone. But she couldn't remember where she buried it._

_A few nights ago her parents went to give her some tea that would knock her out, but she was gone. They figured she had escaped to go find her baby. Everyone figured she had run off into the woods, but no one has gone to find her._

_After the Jong told his story again, some men in the town went into the temple. They found nothing but muddy footprints. But Jong didn't stay long to find out what happened to Satsu Tanaka. He delivered his rice to Omashu then returned home, swearing never to take shortcuts again._

_He also learned that he should listen to his elders even if their tales seem unlikely. For that might very well be true,"_

Toph gave a shiver.

"Man, Twinkle Toes that was much scarier than the last one,"


	12. The Wampas Mask

**Hey my precious readers. Here's a little special one made for TeenAnimeOtaku. It's a Tennessee story and cause she's from there I'm hoping she'll recognize it! Most of the stuff I kept in there, cause the names work for the Water Tribe. Enjoy!**

* * *

" Thanks Toph," Aang grinned.

"I think I'd like to tell a story now," Sokka said.

"Which one?" Katara asked.

"The one about the wolf? Or the parka thief?"

"No, I'm going to tell the one about the Wampas Mask," Sokka said leaning forward, throwing more kindling on the fire. Sparks rose up in the air dramatically, to signal the start of his story.

_"For a girl, Sakari knew a lot about the wild. She knew how to take care of herself and any family she might have._ _Amak was a hunter who knew the same things she did. It was no surprise to anyone when they decided to get married. The whole community got together to help the new couple build an igloo on the edge of the village. It was small but as their family grew it would be added onto._

_On the day of the wedding, Sakari presented Amak with a parka she had made herself, to prove she could provide for a family. Amak presented Sakari with a whole seal to prove he was a fine hunter who could provide._

_At first they had a perfect life. Pretty soon however Amak longed to hunt again. He tried to draw together a hunting party, but no one really wanted to go, because of the rumors of a terrible demon called Ewah. Amak decided to go on his own anyway. Sakari begged him to stay._

'_Please my love, don't go! One look at that old Ewah can drive you mad! Stay home!' She begged._

_Amak didn't listen and went off anyway eager to show off his hunting skills._

_The whole day Sakari tried to work but everything she did reminded her of Amak. Suddenly she heard a blood-curdling scream. She panicked and started to pace about, unsure of what to do. The sun was setting. Sure hunting trips took some time, but she was worried. Hours later he returned. She rushed to him but stopped dead in her tracks. One look said it all. He had seen the Ewah. His eyes were wild and his hair stood on end. He parka was torn and he was covered in cuts and scrapes._

_She got him into the cabin and onto his sleeping fur. By then the tribe had come to visit bring food and condolences. In the Water Tribe when there is death or tragedy, everyone comes together. And what happened to Amak was much like a death for the Amak everyone knew was gone. He was driven to the point of madness and was no longer strong._

_Sakari grieved and grieved. And somewhere in the middle of it all, she figured that she must stop the Ewah so he would never hurt another. She needed to seek vengeance on the creature that had destroyed her life and her husband. She was so angry she found herself making her way down to the Wise Woman's hut for help. She had the sight and knew how to fight evil better than anyone in the village. She was also a Master Waterbender,"_

Katara grinned at her brother. She wasn't sure if that was part of the story but he always added it to make her happy. Sokka continued:

"_She came to the woman's hut. There the Old Woman sat grinning. She wore a dark parka and had scraggly and frizzy white hair. _

"_I've been waiting Sakari," she cackled._

_She led the poor young woman inside the musty hut. She sat her down and listened to frightened Sakari tell her tale._

_" I can help you," she said pulling out a mask. She handed Sakari the mask, it was old and musty and looked like a great Snow Cat. _

_This is the Wampas Mask. It has powers to frighten off the Ewah, but only if he doesn't frighten you first! Don't let him see you or he will drive you mad! His weapon is surprise. If you surprise him first he will leave and never return!" The Wise Woman said._

"_But be careful, once you put the mask one, you will wish you never had,"_

_But Sakari didn't listen, anxious to go and defeat the Ewah._

_She went out onto the tundra and slipped the mask onto her face. Now she was ready to surprise the Ewah. The mask fit perfectly._

_She traveled far, searching for the Ewah. She could hear her heart beat, hear each step she made. She was so afraid! _

_She thought she heard the wail of an infant. 'Why would an infant be let out here?' she thought, before realizing that the Ewah was trying to trick her. She mustn't fall for his tricks!_

_She heard the sound again, and looked to her left. There stooped over a dead seal was the Ewah. Her heart nearly stopped. He was twelve feet tall and covered in hair. His teeth were long and knife-sharp. Then he looked in her direction. _

"_AHHHHH!" She gave a ear-piercing scream. When she looked into his face though, she saw fear. She screamed again, louder. Soon he was running away from her as fast as he could. He would never return!_

_Sakari returned to the Tribe, ready to tell them the great news. But soon the joy was wiped from her. Everyone was back away from her, as if frightened. Didn't they know who she was? Then she remembered the mask._

_She tried to pull it off, but it was stuck! She looked at her hand, but they had changed to great furry paws. She hadn't understood what the old woman meant. She would regret wearing the mask. Now she was a cat forever! She ran from the village, never to return._

_From this day onwards you might see a snow cat walking on her hind legs, protecting the Village in the South Pole,"_

Sokka finished. Another tale well told. Not the scariest but the most interesting. It was one he'd always liked as a boy. Sometimes he and Katara would search for Sakari. But they never found her.

"I love that story, Sokka" Katara sighed.

"Iroh, would you like to tell one now?"


	13. The Bride in the Trunk

**Hey guys, sorry this one's so short. It's hard getting 31 long stories for a fanfic. And I have a good long story but I'm saving that one for a special occasion. Oh an sorry about the late update. I forgot to actually add a new chapter!  
**

* * *

"Of course I would to tell the next story," He smiled. 

"How about your version of the Corpse Bride?" Katara asked warmly.

"No, not yet," Iroh sighed.

"There is another I would like to tell"

"Which one?" Zuko asked. Iroh had told him many stories. He remembered himself and his cousin Lu Ten listening to Iroh's stories on Spirit's Night or on a rainy night. Although Lu Ten was much older than Zuko, he could still stop and listen to Iroh's stories.

"I am going to tell the story that had both you and Lu Ten checking all the trunks for weeks," Iroh laughed.

"Bride in the trunk" Zuko murmured.

"_A long time ago…" _Iroh began.

"_A young woman had just gotten married. There was a large feast, dancing, and music. There were even old childhood games played! When it came time to play Hide and Seek, The Bride decided to hide in her grandfather's trunk up in the attic._

'_They'll never find me here!' she giggled. She crawled in but the lid slammed down and cracked her on the skull, knocking her unconscious. The lid of the trunk locked. _

_They searched for the Bride for days. Eventually the gathered that she had run away._

_Years passed. One day a servant was searching for something in the attic. 'Maybe it is in the trunk' she said. The picked the lock of the trunk and opened it. Once she did she screamed. There inside was the bride, arranged in her scarlet wedding robes. But by then, she was only a skeleton,"_

"Wow, I'm never going to look at trunks the same way again," Sokka said.

"I know," Iroh laughed.

"When I told it to Lu Ten, we avoided trunks completely. Everytime he saw one he would hide from it. But when I told it to Zuko here, he insisted every trunk be checked for any dead brides!"

Zuko blushed and looked away. Why did Iroh tell everyone this?

"It's okay," Katara whispered in his ear.

"I would've done the same thing."

Zuko smiled. Her words made him feel much better.


	14. He Was Cold As Clay

**Okay folkies, another late update. It'll be short. And I know sometime the characters get a little ooc. But I'm the writer and I do what I want. It's not like I'm making them REALLY out of character.**

* * *

"I'd like to tell another story," Zuko said in a low voice.

'Really?" Iroh asked incredulously.

"This is very unlike you,"

"Perhaps you fall to remember Uncle, Spirit's Night was my favorite day of the year." Zuko said softly.

"I want to hear another story from you," Aang said cheerfully.

"You tell good stories,"

"_There was a young beautiful girl, Shen named Shen whose father owned a large farm in the Fire Nation Countryside."_ Zuko began.

"_She was a very pretty girl with shining black hair and beautiful golden eyes. It just so happened that she was in love with a farmhand, who went by the name of Tam. Her father thought that Shen was too beautiful for the homely but kind Tam and forbid her to even talk to him. When she ignored him and continued to see Tam, he decided to send her away,"_

"Why do parents always interfere with romance?" Sokka interrupted.

"It's like they want us to be miserable,"

"Parents interfere because we think we know what's best. Sometimes we do not know what is best, but we pretend we do. Fathers, I have noticed are especially picky over who their daughters choose. Especially if it is their only daughter. It's the way parents are. When you have children, Sokka you will understand," Iroh said, pouring tea.

"May I continue?" Zuko asked irritably.

"_He sent her to her Uncle, who lived miles away. Shortly after she left, Tam became very ill and died. Many said he died of a broken heart._ _Shen's father felt so terribly about the death of his daughter's lover, he couldn't bear to tell her the truth. Shen was in total ignorance about well-being of her boyfriend,"_

"How awful!" Katara exclaimed, hands over her mouth.

"_One day, she was making some tea when she saw Tam outside the house with a Kimodo Rhinoceros. She ran outside and with joy in her heart threw her arms around him._

'_Oh my love!' she cried._

'_Come, your father wants you home,' Tam said to her._

'_Pack your things and come with me'_

_She packed a few things and got on the Kimodo Rhinoceros with him. The rode as fast as they could through the countryside._

_"My head aches something awful," Tam said, when they were halfway there._

_Shen out her hand on his forehead._

"_Oh!" she cried._

"_You are as cold as clay! I hope you are not falling ill, here take my handkerchief,"_

_She tied a pure white handkerchief around his head as gently as she could in hopes it might make him feel a little better,"_

"How would that make him any better? It wouldn't work!," Katara scoffed.

"yeah," Toph agreed.

"That sounds stupid,"

"It's a story," Zuko sighed.

"Maybe it doesn't have to make sense"

"_When they returned to the farm Tam made Shen wait at the front door, while he put the Rhino back in it's stable. While she waited her father stepped outside._

'_Daughter what are you doing home?' He asked bewildered._

'_Tam came for me and brought me here. He is in the stable now,' she explained._

"_That cannot be!" Wailed her father._

'_For he is dead!'_

_Shen was astonished at this news. Immediately she and her father ran to the stable, but they only found the rhino that, for a large animal was shaking terribly in fear._

_They went to Tam's parents and with their permission they dug up Tam's grave. After opening the coffin, they found Tam's corpse with Shen's pure white handkerchief tied around his head."_

"Wow," Katara whispered.

"He came for her even in death! That's sweet, scary, but sweet."

"I wonder how he got out of his grave?" Toph mused.

"You know I never thought of that," Zuko said.

And as the youths began to debate how Tam got out of his grave, Iroh sat back, sipped his tea and smiled.


	15. The Wicked Little Doll

Sorry I didn't update on Saturday. I was exhausted. So once gain I will double update! They might be short but I'm really trying my best!

* * *

" I'm telling you, Tam Earth Bent himself out of his grave!" Sokka insisted.

"But he's from the Fire Nation how could he Earth Bend!" Zuko scoffed.

"Yeah, Sokka where do you come up with these things?" Katara asked.

"Enough!" Iroh laughed.

"You wants to tell the next story?"

"I will!" Toph chirped.

"What'll this next spine tingler be about my dear?" Iroh asked, smiling.

"This is a story about a doll," Toph said softly and cryptically.

"A doll!" Sokka crowed.

"Ooh fear the little doll!"

Katara sent a water whip his way.

"Let Toph tell her story!" she scowled.

"Go ahead Toph,"

"Thanks Katara," Toph grinned.

_"Years ago before I was born, there was a young girl named Lu Si. She was a well-brought up little girl. One day her parents gave her a small doll as a present. It had belonged to her great aunt, a spinster who had passed away. Lu Si secretly hated the doll she had been given. It had little black eyes and a scowl always on it's face. Nevertheless, Lu Si had to accept the hideous gift, because it would be rude to do otherwise, nor did she want to upset her parents by saying how much she feared the ugly little doll. Her parents told her it was named Hatsu. Lu Si was even more frightened now that it had a name. A name made it seem human. And what sort_

_of evil human would this little doll be? _

_Now, Lu Si tried to think practically. It was just a doll wasn't it? It couldn't hurt anyone. But just to be safe, she hid in a cupboard behind some old boots._

_A few nights later, Lu Si could hear a scuttling noise like tiny footsteps. She was pinned to her bed in terror._

_She heard a manly voice calling to her. She was sure only she could hear it. It said: "Lu Si, I'm on the first step," Then it scrabbled away as if to return to it's hiding place._

_She didn't slept for the rest of the night._

_The next morning she tried to explain to her mother how frightened she was of the doll and how she was sure the doll was haunting her. Her mother waved her off, dismissing it as a dream._

_She begged that the doll be taken away, but her parent's said it was a family heirloom, they would not be get rid of it._

_That night she went to bed, out of her head in terror. Sure enough she heard the scrabbling on the steps and the voice call to her._

"_Luuuuu Siiiii I am on the fifth step!"_

_Lu Si wept in fear and did not sleep._

_No one believed her about the evil little doll named Hatsu. She knew the doll was climbing the steps four at a time. One more night at the doll would come for her._

_That night she closed her door, rather than keeping it open like she usually did. Hatsu wouldn't get to her!_

_She began to sleep but heard the voice._

_"Lu Si, I'm on the top step…"_

_The girl's heart pounded. Even though the door was closed, she still wouldn't be safe. So she got up to investigate._

_The next morning her parents found her body at the bottom of the stairs. They guessed she had tried to go downstairs for a drink, and slipped on the clay urn that was beside her and broke her neck. Also beside her was Hatsu. The doll was buried with Lu Si. Everyone mourned, but at least Hatsu wouldn't be able to hurt anyone else._

_Was that urn Lu Si slipped on stored in the cupboard? That's where it was kept. To this day, no one but Lu Si and Hatsu the Doll know, neither of them can tell you."_

"Now I hate dolls even more," Sokka moaned.

"Glad to help," Toph grinned


	16. The Thing From the Sea

"Good story," Katara said.

"I can't imagine any of my dolls being evil though,"

"All your dolls were made of leather stuffed with fur and had faces Gran Gran stitched with her own hand," Sokka said.

"I don't think Gran Gran would anyone an evil doll,"

"No," Katara said shaking her head.

"I would however like to tell a story she told us,"

"The one about the thing from the sea,"

Sokka shivered. That story always frightened him so badly he would be too scared to go fishing.

_"Twen and Sonku were good friends. They hunted and fished together all the time. One night they were on watch for Fire Nation ships," _

Katara stopped her story and saw Zuko's head drop, in an emotion she couldn't recognize in the firelight. His tufty hair stuck out in varying directions, making him look like an ashamed child. It was as if he was sorry that the Fire Nation had done such harm to the Water Tribe. As if even mentioning what the Fire Nation had done in a mere story was painful to his honor.

Katara reached out her delicate fingers and stroked his hair gently, glad Sokka was occupying himself with some fruit that Aang was checking on Appa, that Toph was blind and Iroh was making more tea.

Zuko looked up and saw Katara's gentle eyes.

"It's okay," she whispered. He smiled a bit at her words.

"Don't be ashamed of the past," she murmured.

Then she continued her story.

"_As they kept watch they talked about their wives and their children. Suddenly they noticed something. Down shore from them they saw something or someone rise from the water. They were frightened but stood still. They were of the Water Tribe. They were warriors._

_The Thing moved closer to them, and they only got more frightened. It moved closer and closer. They started to run, but it followed anyway. They were halfway back to the village when they realized they were being silly._

_"I'm going to back and touch it," Twen said._

"_To see if it's real."_

_The pair returned to the beach, where it was still. Twen walked up to it boldly, Sonku following. What they saw was horrifying. It looked human. But it's skin was pulled back so tight, it looked just like a skeleton. It was a white parka trimmed in black. It's eyes had an eerie glow to them. The men screamed and ran home, never knowing what that thing was._

_A year later, Twen got sick and died. Towards the end, Sonku sat up with him. The night Twen died, Sonku said he looked just like the skeleton,"_

Katara sat still. Iroh stopped making tea. Zuko had moved closer to her. Sokka's face was whiter than snow. That story always scared him. Then out of the corner of her eyes, she noticed Aang and Toph had been holding hands.

'Ghost stories always bring people together like that," Katara thought to herself with a silent chuckle.


	17. The House Guests

Aang looked down and suddenly realized his hand was gripping the hand of his earth-bending teacher. They were softer than her callused feet, but a bit rough for a wealthy girl's.

He jerked his hand away and turned red, glad Toph couldn't see his cherry cheeks.

Then before she could say a thing he suddenly blurted:

"I'm telling the next story!"

"Of course," Katara said adding more wood to the fire. She had seen him clutch Toph's hand.

"Is it another story told to you by King Bumi?" Sokka asked.

"No, I think Gyatso told me this one. You see after we had gone about the villages asking for cakes and fruit and had returned to the temple, Gyatso would tell us all stories,"

_"Many years ago a newly wed couple were traveling to the village where the man's mother lived. Usually when they went to visit her they got there in time for supper. But that day they'd had a late start. It was now nightfall. They decided to find a place to stay for the night. While traveling in the woods they found a small house._

_"Maybe they rent rooms," The wife said._

_They stopped to ask and an elderly couple came to the door. They did not rent rooms, but they were more than happy to have the couple stay as guests. The Old Woman made some tea and brought out some cakes. They had the tea and the cakes and talked for awhile Then the young couple was shown to a cozy room. They wanted to pay for it, but the Old Man and Woman refused to accept their coins._

_The next morning they prepared to leave. Their hosts were not yet awake. On a table near the front door the left some coins. Then they headed for the next village._

_They stopped at an inn to get some breakfast. When the told the innkeeper of the kind old couple he turned as white as flour._

_"That house burnt down ten years ago. The couple who lived there died in the fire!"_

_The young couple was astonished. They made their way back to the house. All they found was a burnt out shell and blackened rubble._

_The woman screamed. There amongst the rubble was a table. And on the table were the coins they had left that morning,"_

Aang finished his story. That one wasn't the scariest he knew, but rather scary all the same.

"Wouldn't it be strange," Toph began.

"If that happened to us?"

"I have heard stranger things. Often these things are the truth," Iroh said softly.

"And the story I am about to tell is very true,"


	18. Sada

**Hey, I was tired yesterday so I did not update. So I'm doubling again. This story is based off the Movie/Book Carrie so it's rated T because it talks about periods for a little while. I also figured the nations all have different names for that time of the month so they're in here. If you're offended by that sort of thing…sorry.**

* * *

"A true story?" Sokka asked.

"Yes. You see sometimes Bending can be repressed. Sometimes parents who fear and loathe bending can discourage a young bender from practicing or learning. The young benders powers are kept inside and can at times of great emotional stress be released uncontrolled." Iroh said gravely.

"This story actually happened years and years ago."

_"There was a young woman named Sada. She was a lonely girl with thin limp black hair. She was not very pretty either. She had no father, he was long dead. She lived with her mother in an eerie house. Her mother, a wild woman named Leiko feared benders of any kind so when she found her only child was a Fire Bender she was suppressed the girl's ability telling her: "The only thing you need is The Will of Agni and his great plan,"._

_The other boys and girls of the village teased poor Sada because she was different and because she believed so strongly in the Virtues of The Gods._

_One day when she was at the Bath House, trying to avoid the cruelty of the other girls there she realized she had been given The Gift of Womanhood,"_

"What Gift of Womanhood?" Aang asked.

Silence. Katara's face turned red. Zuko coughed and looked away. Sokka hid his face. Toph's face screwed up into an expression of embarrassment while Iroh's mouth opened and closed like a fish.

"Well…" He began.

"Aang, you know how I complain about my 'Moon Times' every so often?" That's what The Gift is." Katara said.

"In the Earth Kingdom it's called the flowers," Iroh added.

"But what is it?" Aang asked exasperated.

"Well Aang to be blunt, it's when a girl…" Iroh began.

Very gently Iroh and Katara both explained to Aang What this Gift was.

The poor boy let out a cry of shock and disgust.

"That's exactly how Sada felt," Iroh said, ready to continue.

"_Sada's mother hadn't told her about the Gift so she was shocked and upset. Convinced she was dying, she ran out of the wooden tub of water begging for help. The girls laughed cruelly and threw rags at her, shouting vile and cruel phrases. The girl sobbed for help. Then the mistress of the bathhouse came in. She saw the naked screaming girl and ran to her._

"_What is wrong Sada!" she cried, shaking her._

"_I'M DYING!" The girl wailed. _

_The Mistress saw the blood on her leg and knew what was wrong. _

_Smoke was coming out the girl's nose. She wanted to torch the bathhouse down in one fell swoop, but she couldn't she just couldn't._

"_Let me help you," The Mistress said._

_The woman helped out the poor girl and walked her home from the bath house. After she left Sada waited for her mother in fear._

_Leiko returned home to see her pale daughter sitting on her sewing stool._

"_I saw the bath house mistress today and she told me a funny thing," she began._

_She reached over and slapped the girl hard._

"_You're filthy," she hissed._

"_You have gone against Agni's wishes and now you are being punished! You disgusting wench!" _

_The helpless wretch sobbed until her mother locked her up in her room._

_Meanwhile a young woman named Cho sat with her sweetheart, named Tomo. She felt awful about how she had treated Sada. So she asked her boyfriend this:_

"_Tomo my love, I must do a good thing for poor Sada. If I asked of you, would you escort her to the Fire Festival?"_

_He was reluctant, but he agreed to do so only because of his love for Cho._

_Meanwhile, Sada thought of her firebending. She could become better if she practiced in secret. She could become a master. The Fire Lord would discover and she'd become great. No one would laugh again!_

_So she began to practice in secret. One day as she practiced she heard someone coming she stopped immediately and pretending she was picking flowers. It was Tomo. She blushed when she saw him._

"_Sada? How are you?" he asked._

"_Fine, I guess," she stammered._

"_I was wondering if you would let me take you to the fire festival," he said to her._

"_What a mean trick!" she cried._

"_I know it is a trick! I am always the brunt of jokes!"  
It is no trick," He said._

"_Will you go?  
Eventually she agreed._

_Word spread that she was to attend the Festival with handsome Tomo. Many laughed, but one young woman burned in rage. She hated Sada so much she believed that the girl must never be happy. This girl's name was Kyra and she was very cruel. She had a lover named Zang, who was just as cruel. Together they conspired a wicked plan. They butchered a pig the night before the festival and filled a bucket with it's blood. They also made sure that Sada would be named Festival Queen so when she ascended the stage to receive the mock crown deeming her so, she would be covered on pig's blood, humiliating her._

_Meanwhile Sada sewed her robes for the festival. She made them from fine red silk and embroidered them with black threads to form Cherryplum blossoms. _

_One night at dinner she told her mother of her plans._

"_You must not go!," He mother cried._

"_That boy means to break your heart!" _

_They argued on until suddenly fire streamed from the girl's hands, frightening her mother and ending the conversation._

_The night of the festival Sada dressed in her fine robes. Her mother watched her, warning her all the while that they would all taunt her and tease her._

_"Enough mama!'' Sada cried, fire spouting from her palms._

"_I shall go to the festival and you cannot stop me! If you do not let me go I shall burn you to a crisp! I can do it mama, I have been practicing!"_

_And just as she said that Tomo came to the door._

_He took her to the festival. There the danced and ate many fine foods. People whom had taunted her before were in awe of the lovely beauty before them in her fine silks, her hair long and shining in the torchlight. Even Tomo found her beautiful._

_Then the fateful moment came. They called the names for the King and Queen of the festival. Tomo and Sada. Sada could not believe her luck. How could this happen? Grateful and confused she as ascended to the stage, where Kyra and Zang waited for her hidden in the rafters, waiting to pull the rope that would shower her in blood._

_The mock crown was placed on Sada's head and she was handed flowers. She had never been happier. Everyone sang songs of the Fire Nation and then Kyra pulled the rope._

_No one was sure what had happened at first. The blood thick and red came down and drenched her, ruining her robes, coating her hair and faces and hands. The bucket fell on Tomo's head, killing him instantly._

_Everyone saw Sada covered in blood and they remembered, she wasn't a beautiful lady, she was a hideous fool! They all laughed at her, hysterically. Tears rolled down her cheeks making white streaks across the red of the blood._

_The she lost control. The torches began to flare up burning decorations. And fire began to come from her mouth and hands, her rage unchecked. Kyra and Zang ran away in fear. She burnt anyone in her path to a crisp, the townspeople running off into the night. She set the festival area ablaze, killing many. Then she headed home. On her way home, Kyra and Zang saw her. They saw the damage she had done and now they intended to kill her. Zang drew his curved sword, ready to stab her, but she set them on fire until they burnt into nothing but ashes._

_At home she filled a tub with water and scrubbed away the blood. She was calmer now. She dressed in her white sleeping shift and went to her mother. Her mother held her and told her to pray to Agni. As Sada did so her mother stabbed her in the back. As Sada bled to death, she burnt her mother fatally. Realizing what she had done she sobbed pitifully and clutched her mother as she bled. She set the house aflame in her grief and let burn while she and her mother died."_

Iroh finished his tale. It was a true story. It had happened when his father was a boy.

"After that," he said to the solemn group.

"If a child was found to have bending powers they were forced to have lessons to control it, so such a tragedy would never occur again,"


	19. The White Wolf

"I'll tell a story," Sokka said standing up.

"Will it have anything gross and girly in it?" Aang asked.

"No!" Sokka laughed, remembering the first time he heard about what happens to girls each month. He couldn't look at any woman in the village without screaming.

"This is the story of the white wolf." He said softly.

"_In the Southern Water Tribe, they were overrun with Pole Wolves. There were so many the Reindeer in pens were being killed. So hunters started hunting these wolves down in return for goods. One man named Hantu decided he would kill as many wolves as possible. He did just that, killing so many wolves there were hardly any left in the South Pole. He became very wealthy consequently._

_One day, some people began reporting a white wolf was killing their reindeer. So Hantu decided he would catch this wolf. They warned him however it was a tricky fellow, for it left no tracks whatsoever._

_So he went out onto the tundra with a baby reindeer as bait. There he waited._

_Days passed and he did not return. Worried some hunters went searching for him. The found the reindeer fawn, unhurt but shaken. They also found Hantu with his throat ripped out. Of the white wolf, there was no sign, nor was it seen again."_

"That was short," Toph said.

"Was the wolf a ghost?" Aang asked.

"Yeah," Sokka said

"It was avenging the deaths of all the wolves Hantu killed."

"That is why nature should not be messed with," Iroh smiled.

"Who's telling the next one?"


	20. The Red Kimono

"I think I will," Zuko said.

"Wonderful!" Katara chirped.

"You're a great story teller!"

Zuko blushed looking away. No one had really told him he was good at 'story-telling'. Fire bending, maybe. Fighting, certainly. But something like story-telling? No one had ever said he was good at it.

"In the Fire Nation, we have found a way of preserving bodies by using a certain poison. A lot of people fear this new change. And from that fear came this legend," Zuko began.

"_A young woman wanted to go to The Fire Festival but did not have the money to buy anything. Her mother suggested she visit a pawnshop. At the pawnshop, she found a beautiful red silk kimono. She also found that it was very cheap and fit her perfectly. She bought it right away. _

_That night at the festival everyone marveled at her beauty. She danced long into the night with many admirers. Near the end of the evening she found herself growing dizzy._

_"I have danced too much!" she exclaimed._

_She made her way home then fell into bed, still in the kimono._

_The next morning her mother went to wake her but she could not wake. She had died in the night. When the undertakers came for her body they were shocked._

_The robe had been on a body they had recently buried. A servant had stolen kimono off the body before it was buried and sold it to the pawnshop._

"_But what killed my daughter?" asked her mother._

_The undertakers explained that some Preserving Poison was still on the dress. It was absorbed by the girl's skin as she danced, stopping her heart."_

"How awful!" Katara gasped.

"It's not over yet," Zuko said trying to control how peeved he was at an interruption.

"_They put the girl in the coffin. The servant who had stolen the kimono before saw it on the young woman. Strange that he was seeing it again, he thought to himself. But he might as well steal it again. He took it, leaving the girl naked in her coffin._

_On the way to the cemetery, they heard banging within the coffin!_

"_Open it up!" the mother cried. They opened it to find the girl, alive, naked and shocked but alive._

_They learned that the poison of the kimono had only paralyzed her. If they had proceeded with the burial, the girl would have been buried alive._

_They went to that pawn shop to find the robe, knowing it had been sold to that place again. They told the shop the truth about the kimono and asked him if it had been sold. He told them it had and they quickly went to the house where the woman who bought it lived. There they found a very grieved man. When they asked him where she was he replied:_

"_My wife died yesterday. She had just bought a kimono and gone to a party. Then yesterday morning I found she had died."_

"_Where is her body and the kimono?" They demanded._

"_She looked so beautiful in that kimono I didn't change her out of it," the Man began._

"_But where is her body?" They demanded._

"_You cannot see it," He said sadly._

"_I cremated her this morning""_

"Woah, creepy," Sokka said with a sigh.

"Yeah," Toph said.

"Remind me not to buy any kimonos from pawn shops."

"You know," Iroh said.

"It seems from these stories, we learn many things. Isn't that funny, that after each one, one of us asks to be reminded not to repeat the actions of the characters in these tales?"

The old man laughed to himself, while the kids looked at eachother shrugging at his words.


	21. The Grey Woman

**I really changed this story around. If you don't know what a dairy is, I shall tell you. It is a special building for the storing of dairy products, used before refrigeration. I changed the genders of the two characters in this story, for men are not usually in charge of dairy products. At least not in the old days.**

* * *

"I don't know if this story will teach us anything, but it's still really good!" Aang said, straightening his back. 

"Well let's hear it!" Sokka said with a grin.

"Who told you this one, Gyatso or Bumi?"

"One of the other monks, told me this story. His name was Inuki," Aang said smiling.

"_Two young milkmaids were in the dairy. They were making butter and cheese. The door to the small building was open to let in the sunshine. That's when she came. She was a small frail woman wearing tattered gray robes. She walked towards the shelf full of earthenware bottles brimming with milk. She took one of the bottles and left. The girls were shocked at the blatant theft and chased after the woman, but did not see her anywhere. _

_A few days later it happened again. The woman entered the dairy, took an earthenware bottle of milk and walked away with a word. Again the girls followed but they didn't see her._

_It continued like this for a week. On the seventh day they were prepared for her arrival. She stole the bottle of milk and the followed her. They chased her into the woods and even when she disappeared they continued to follow. They trekked further into the woods and found a dirt path. The followed it and found a small cemetery that they didn't even know existed. Then the two milkmaids heard a small cry, like a baby's. They looked around frantically until they realized it was underground. They saw a new grave, with a headstone indicating a woman and her baby were in there, dead after a difficult birth. The crying was coming from the grave! Luckily one of the girls was an earthbender, so she bended the coffin up from the grave. After the coffin was exhumed, they tore off the lid. There in the coffin lay the woman in grey. In her arms was the wailing infant, mistakenly buried alive. Next to her were the earthenware bottles she had stolen. Her ghost had been stealing milk to keep her babe alive until help could come."_

"But who was feeding the baby?" Sokka asked.

"The mother was dead,"

"It was the spirit of the woman," Katara said, softly.

"Her ghost stole the milk then fed the baby with her own hand."

"Isn't it amazing," Iroh said with a smile.

"How a mother's love can break the barriers of the spirit world and conquer any hardship?"


	22. The Slave Girl and the Black Oleander

**Hello my pets! Weird thing, I haven't been getting any alerts for your generous reviews or kind PMs! I am a very confused bunny… Iroh's special story is coming soon. It isn't now but it is soon! Guess what the special story is and you get a chocolate covered Avatar Bishi of your choice (anyone you like, I don't judge)  
Tonights story is an actual true ghost story from Louisana and one of my personal favorites as told by our darling Toph Bei Fong. There are two versions but I'm telling the family friendly version because would have been told the story as a child. In one way of telling it the Slave was having an affair with the master, but I don't think Toph's parents would allow their 'fragile daughter' to hear that.**

* * *

All the kids fell silent at Iroh's words about a Mother's Love. Aang never met his mother. Sokka, Katara and Zuko could all remember the love their mothers had given them. Their mothers were now gone. Even Toph had experienced that strong Mother's Love, if only at rare moments. She hadn't seen her mother in months. Iroh bowed his head, remembering his own long dead mother. Out in the wild, a mother's love was more valuable than gold.

The poignant silence was broken with Toph volunteering to tell the next story.

"This story actually happened long before I was born." Toph began.

"Well that's what my nanny told me one Spirit's Night when I was six."

_"Long ago there was a wealthy Earth Kingdom Magistrate who owned a plantation. He had a beautiful wife and two daughters and another on the way. He had many slaves. There was one slave girl named Kirin. She was a very pretty girl. She worked inside the great house rather than out in the fields. She was luckier than most slaves were. She cared for The Magistrate's children and the family loved her dearly._

_Kirin often eavesdropped on the Magistrate's conversations. That way she could tell the other slaves who would be sold and any other goings on in the household. One day, the master caught her. In his rage he cut off her ear. After that she began to wear a green turban to hide the shameful wound._

_She knew the Magistrate was furious at her so she had to do something to prove her worth. But what? Opportunity came along soon enough. The Judge ordered her to make his eldest daughter's birthday cake. He would be away and could not celebrate with the family._

_When Kirin learned of her job she knew what to do. She took some black oleander leaves, which she knew to be poisonous and steeped out the poison. She added the poison to the cake. If she made the family sick she could nurse them back to health, proving herself invaluable to the family._

_She served the cake to the family, but soon found she made a terrible mistake. She'd put in too much poison accidentally. One by one they fell to the floor moaning in agony. She helped them to bed and tried to save them but it was too late, they all died, the daughters, the mother and the unborn baby._

_The other slaves heard what she had done and were enraged. Suppose the master took it out on them? A lynch mob came for Kirin and they hung her in the dead of night. They tied stones to her and threw it in the river._

_The Magistrate could no longer bear to use that dining room after what happened._

_After his death the new owners freed the slaves and turned it into an inn._

_But the new owners knew they were not alone. They heard footsteps at night. Guests said a young woman in green turban would wake them up and then vanish. They often saw the shadows and reflections of children. Sometimes a woman in silk robes would be seen with these ghost children. _

_Is the woman in the turban Kirin? Are the children those of the Magistrate? Some say they are. But there are still some who do not believe in ghosts. They'd certainly believe in ghosts if they visited the Black Oleander Inn."_

Toph smiled. That story always scared her. Know it pleased her to know that the others were scared as well. She could feel Twinkle Toes tremble slightly. Then he said:

"Let's visit that inn to see if it's true!"

"NO!" everyone cried at once.


	23. Akna's Betrothal Necklace

"No way," Sokka said.

"There is no way I am going to a haunted inn."

''Me neither," Katara said, adding more kindling to the fire.

"Anyway, I was thinking of telling the next story,"

"That sounds great!" Aang said, grinning at her.

"What story will it be?"

"A very special story to me, about love and a betrothal necklace. Princess Yue told it to me,"

Katara saw her brother's face crumple at the sound of Yue's name. She put a hand on his shoulder in comfort, knowing how he was crying inside.

"_In the North Pole there was a chief's daughter named Akna. She was devastatingly gorgeous and had many admirers. She often wore a pure white parka, to make herself stand out from the other girls._

_One day while she was riding in her gondola, she met a young waterbender named Siku._

_Her father did not approve and had her betrothed to another man against her will. But without her father's knowledge she'd engaged herself to Siku. He made her a beautiful betrothal necklace and she wore it only when her father was not around. They planned to run away to the South Pole or even Ba Sing Se where they would not be found. Unfortunately, Akna fell very ill. She lay in bed, delirious with fever, crying out for Siku._

_Her father was enraged. As he sat at her bedside he noticed around her neck, not the betrothal necklace of the man He intended for her, but the necklace Siku had made for her. He ripped the necklace from her neck and flung it into the ocean! _

_Akna, even in her fever noticed that her necklace was gone. She asked for it constantly, weeping. Her father lied to her saying he didn't know where it was. Finally she died, after two weeks of suffering._

_After they gave her body to the sea, Siku left for the South-Pole. Pretty soon her spirit start wandering the city wailing: 'Where is my necklace oh where is my necklace?"_

_Some say that in the North Pole when a girl loses a necklace then Akna has stolen, hoping to replace her own,"_

After Katara finished, she touched her own necklace. She remembered how lost she'd felt when she didn't have hers. She understood Akna's pain. Then she looked over and saw Zuko, the boy who'd found her necklace and kept it as leverage. She'd forgiven him for that months ago. Now she noticed him staring at the necklace glimmering around her neck, she knew he was remembering when he held the keepsake hostage.

They both thought back to the incident with the tree, when he tried to bribe her. When he teased her with that necklace. Their eyes met, hazel and blue and they both knew they were sharing the same thoughts. One little story about a dead girl's necklace, plus their own history with a betrothal necklace was drawing them closer to eachother. If not physically, then at least spiritually.

"Hey Katara!" Sokka cried breaking her train of thought and her gentle stare down with Zuko.

"You finished?" he asked.

"Yeah," she said softly.

"You wanna tell the next one Sokka?"


	24. Remains of the Day as sung by Sokka

**Hey folks. Sorry for the lack of update.**

**A note: Pay attention when you read the stories. Often I get people complaining that I have gotten something wrong when I have. You have to read the stories closely. And one more thing. Zuko's eyes while they are often described as gold can be described as hazel. Saying they're golden is a cliché. The song is "Remains of the Day" from Corpse Bride. Sung by Sokka! Enjoy!**

* * *

"Sokka what story will you tell next?" Katara asked.

"Not a story." Sokka said.

"But a song I heard in Ba Sing Se,"

" _Hey, give me a listen you corpses of cheer! At least those of you still got an ear! I tell you a story to make a skeleton cry! Of our own jubiliciously lovely Corpse Bride!" _Sokka began

Iroh's eyes lit up also knowing the song. He'd heard it years ago.

So both Iroh and Sokka began to sing the chorus:

"_Die die we all pass away! But don't wear a frown cause it's really okay! You might try and hide and you might try and pray but we all end up the remains of the day! Yeah yeah yeah yeah…"_

Then Sokka started to sing again:

"_Well, our girl was a beauty known for miles around, when a mysterious stranger came into town! He was plenty good looking, but down on his cash and our poor little baby, she fell heard and fast! When her daddy said 'No' she just couldn't cope! So our lovers came up with the plan to elope!"_

Then Iroh joined in for the chorus:

"_Die die we all pass away! But don't wear a frown cause it's really okay! You might try and hide and you might try and pray but we all end up the remains of the day! Yeah yeah yeah yeah…"_

Sokka began again, noticing everyone was enraptured by the song. Aang was doing his own little dance while Toph swayed back and forth enjoying the song. Then to his discomfort He saw Zuko and katara hand in hand doing a little dance together. He swallowed his pride and ignored it, not wanting to ruin his song.

" _So they conjured up a plan to meet late at nigh! Told not a soul! Kept the whole thing tight! He mother's wedding dress fit like a glove, you don't need much when you're really in love except for a few things or so I've been told, like the family jewels and a satchel of gold! Then next to the graveyard by the old oak tree! On a dark foggy night at a Quarter to Three! She was ready to go but where was he?"  
"And then?" _Asked Aang.

"_She waited," _ Sokka said.

"_And then?" _Katara asked.

"_There in the shadows, was it a man?"_ Sokka cried.

"_And then?" _Zuko asked.

"_Her little heart beat so loud!" _Sokka wailed.

"_And then?" _Toph asked.

"_And then baby everything went black!" _Sokka sang in a loud whisper, grabbing Toph from behind.

Toph screamed in shock and delight. She could smell Sokka behind her, feel him and hear him sing in her ear. Her twelve year old heart beat loudly in her chest.

"_Now when she opened her eyes, she was dead as dust! Her jewels were missing and her heart was bust! So she made a vow lying under that tree to wait for her true love to come set her free! Always waiting for someone to ask for her hand and out of the blue, comes this groovy young man who vows forever to stay by her side and that's the story of our Corpse Bride!"_

By then Sokka had Toph by her hands and was spinning her about. She was squealing in excitement and fear.

Then Sokka plopped down causing Toph to land in his lap. He grinned at everyone, and Toph scrambled off his lap, her face flushed scarlet.

"That was wild!" Aang shouted.

"Sing it again!"


	25. Spiders in her Hair

**The hairstyles described are a cross between the hairstyles worn by Marie Antoinette and the Traditional hairstyles of a Geisha.**

* * *

"No, I won't sing it again," Sokka sighed.

"It's tiring,"

"I'll calm everyone with a scary story then!" Iroh said.

"What'll this one be about?" Aang asked.

"It's a cautionary tale, of why you shouldn't overdo your hair!" Iroh said smiling.

"_Years ago when I was a boy, women wore their hair in a complex style called a pouf. It involved many pomades and ornaments. The women wore it high and big with combs and flowers and jewels. Some even put miniature ships and animals or dolls in their hairstyles. They wore they style for long periods of time, so they never washed their hair,"_

"Ew!" Katara exclaimed. Katara took pride in her hair and could never go without washing it.

"_One noblewoman wore her hair more extravagantly than the other ladies. At night she wrapped her hair and silk to protect then rested her neck on a wooden block. One day, her scalp begins to tingle and itch. _ _ It bothers her constantly. But she cannot scratch, or she will ruin her heavily pomaded and waxed hairdo. _

_One day the itching and stinging became so bead that during an important court presentation she began to jump about wailing in pain. She tore at her hair and finally collapsed. The other nobles called for a healer. As they waited they noticed blood was seeping from the woman's scalp. When the Healer arrived, the woman was already dead._

_The embalmer, who was suspicious of the woman's death broke open her pouf and found that thousands of baby Fire Back Spiders were inside it. A mother Fire Back had crawled into her unwashed hair, and laid her eggs. When the babies hatched they ate at the skin on her scalp, eventually boring into the woman's brain,"_

When Iroh finished everyone looked green. Katara was running her fingers through her hair erratically.

"Of course," Iroh began.

"That's only a myth. You shouldn't worry Katara. Anyways, you keep your hair very clean,"


	26. Click Clack

Katara was still paranoid by Iroh's story. She could imagine spiders and all other manners of wee beasties crawling through her hair over her scalp.

"SOKKA! Get the comb!" She ordered to her brother. Her brother sighed. The Comb was made from bone, carved with little water symbols. Katara and Sokka used it to check their hair for nits and lice, which Katara hated with a passion unlike anything else. The Fire Nation could wait, Katara had to fight the war on lice, fleas and other parasites. Sokka fetched the comb and Katara loosened her hair letting it fall around her shoulders in beautiful waves. Sokka began to comb and she tilted her head back at the grooming. Both Aang and Zuko were watching her intensely.

"Well since it seems everyone else is speechless…" Toph began.

"I'll tell the next story."

_"In a section of Ba Sing Se there was an old man who'd had his legs crushed by an earth bender. They were so ruined that he had to have them amputated. They only way he could get himself around was by dragging himself along with his long fingernails. They called him Click-Clack because of the sound his nails made when he dragged himself along. Unfortunately he was also insane,"_

"Insane like King Bumi?" Aang asked brightly.

"No, not like King Bumi," Toph said roughly.

"He was insane in the bad way"

"_At night he would find people walking about and disembowel him with his hideously long fingernails. So, the city ordered that people be in by six in the evening._

_One day a girl asked if she could go meet her friends. It was four in the afternoon, so the mother told her to be home by five thirty so Click-Clack would not get her._

_The girls stayed out with her friends longer than she intended. It was past five thirty. But she figured she'd make it home on time. Until she saw the noodle vendor. She ordered her favorite kind of noodle and went on her way. After she finished her noodles, she realized it was six a clock. People were rushing home, calling in their kids and locking their doors. 'Oh no! I better run home' she thought, dropping her empty bowl._

_She ran as fast as she could, but when she reached her street she heard the dreaded: "click clack drag click clack," She turned around to make she it was her imagination but there was Click Clack! Meanwhile her mother (who had been out behind their little house hanging thw wash, feeding the chickens and doing other busy work) had figured her daughter was already home and in bed, so she prepared for bed herself, being quiet so as not to wake her daughter. She then heard knocking and pounding on the door, but she figured it was Click Clack, because she could her the clack and clatter of his fingernails. But it was really her daughter wanting to come inside._

_The next morning the woman stepped out to go to the market, but there on her step was her daughter, dead and disemboweled and written in her blood was: "Mother why didn't you open the door?"_

"When I was in Ba Sing Se I never saw Click Clack!" Zuko exclaimed.

Toph bended a rock towards his head, but Zuko ducked and it whizzed past Iroh, nearly knocking his tea out of his hands. It landed on the ground with a small thunk.

"You're lucky I missed," She growled.

"I never said the story recently happened. It probably a long time ago,"

"It probably did," Iroh said.

"And I'm glad you missed also. If my tea had spilled, I would have been a force much scarier than Click Clack,"


	27. The Monk Who Avenged a Ghost

**I have to TRIPLE update. I KNOW I'M TERRIBLE!This story, I once again had to mess with to make it work.**

* * *

Everyone looked over at Iroh with wide eyes. They couldn't really imagine such a kind old man such as Iroh becoming a force as wicked as Old Click Clack.

Sokka pulled the comb from Katara's hair.

"You're clean," he said putting the comb in her pack.

"Honestly, you have to calm down about this whole cleanliness thing,"

"Sokka, just because you roll around in the mud and call it bathing doesn't mean that everyone else does," she sighed.

"I like rolling in mud," Toph said.

Katara looked over at Toph and shook her head.

"Aang do you want to tell the next story?" she asked.

Aang's ears perked up at Katara's voice.

"Okay!" he said happy to do anything she asked.

"I'm going to tell a story well-known among Air Nomad Monks. It was a true story about a young monk who ending up avenging a ghost,"

"_There was a young Airbender Monk named Hiro. His mentor had recently informed him of a house in the Earth Kingdom that was so haunted that no one could live in it for longer than a week. Hiro was a very curious young man and asked if he could travel to see this house for himself. His Mentor agreed and soon Hiro set out a long journey to that haunted house._

_People in the town where the house resided told him where to find it. He found the dilapidated house, standing out like a sore thumb. Once inside, he set up a small fire and laid out his sleeping roll in the main room. That night he sat up waiting for the ghost. Sure enough he could hear moaning and wailing coming from the next room. He looked at the sliding door and saw through the pattern of wispy trees and flowing streams, a faint blue light. He slipped the door opened and saw a blue form moving towards him. It moved closer and closer, but he was not afraid. It materialized into a human form. It was a young woman of twenty wearing a tattered kimono. Her black hair was tangled and the flesh was rotting off of her face. She had no eyes but a queer blue light seemed to glow from the back of her head. _

"_In the name of all the gods of the Four Nations who are you and what do you want?" Hiro asked._

_The ghost began to speak, in a whispery voice that sounded like the wind. She told Hiro that her lover had murdered her for her gold and buried her in the courtyard. If he avenged her murder, she said then she would tell him where her gold had been buried. What he had to do was dig up her body and take a small finger bone and put it in a begging bowl. After he had to give her body a proper burial, according to Earth Kingdom culture. Then he would have to go around town. The murderer would try to touch it. Finally, the ghost gripped his sleeve so tightly that when she let go it left an imprint of her skeletal hand. She started to sob like she was tired and finally faded away. In the dawn's early light he dug up the courtyard and found her body. He called for the bailiff and the undertaker who helped him give the body a proper burial in the graveyard. They burnt incense and said the prayers for burial. However, before the bailiff and the undertaker arrived the Hiro pocketed a small finger bone so he could do as the ghost said._

_Later that day, he placed the bone in his begging bowl and went about town. People placed coins in the bowl but looked in disgust at the bone. Until one man came along. He saw the bone and immediately reached to touch it. It clung to the man's finger. The man ran about screaming as he tried to tear the bone off his hand. Finally he confessed to the murder. He was dealt with by the bailiff and Hiro returned to the house. The ghost returned and told him to dig under the hearth. He did so and found a chest of gold. He returned to his temple and he and the other monks used the gold to help the poor. As for the skeletal hand print on his sleeve, well it never came out,"_

"That was an awesome story," Toph grinned.

"Yeah," Sokka agreed.

"Speaking of avenged young women," Iroh began.

"I think it's time for my version of Katara's Corpse Bride tale,"


	28. Iroh's Corpse Bride

**Here's the long waited special Iroh story! It's based off the film version of Corpse Bride. The names are Japanese I got them from an official website, so none of that: "those names don't sound Asian!" A Koto is a Japanese harp.**

* * *

Everyone scooted closer to Iroh. They had been waiting for this story all night.

"I learned this story in the Earth Kingdom from a young woman who swears it was true. I do not know if it was, but it's s lovely tale nonetheless. It's a lot like Katara's tale of a Corpse Bride," Iroh began.

_"Long ago there was a young man named Makito. His father was a fish merchant who did so well they became very wealthy. Though his family was very wealthy they were not nobility, though they longed to 'rub elbows with the finest' as they put it._

_Across the street from and his family was a young woman named Misora. Her parents were nobility. They had their title but absolutely no money. So the two families conspired a plan. Makito and Misora would wed, though the pair were sheltered and had never even met each other. Makito's family would be elevated into the nobility and Misora's family would get some money. _

_The day before the wedding Makito's family went to the grand estate of Misora's family for the wedding rehearsal. While the parents were having tea, Makito found a something he liked very much, a Koto. He sat down and began to play it, for he was a good Koto player. Misora heard him play and came out of her room. She had never heard such beautiful music._

_Makito saw her, behind him and panicked._

"_Do forgive me!" he cried._

"_You play beautifully," she said._

"_My mother will not let me near the Koto, for she says music is too passionate for a young lady," _

_The pair connected instantly. They spoke of their marriage and Makito in his clumsiness knocked over a small vase holding a panda lily. Misora picked up the lily and handed it to him. Just as she did her mother found the pair, and admonished them for being alone together and ushered them into the room for the rehearsal._

_Three hours had passed. Makito kept blustering his vows, dropping the ring. As he struggled a mysterious man, known as Lord Baku arrived. He watched them with contempt. Finally in a great climax, poor Makito dropped the ring and it rolled under his future mother-in-law's kimono. He reached for and ended up setting her on fire with the candle he held. Everyone panicked until Lord Baku dowsed the fire with the wedding sake. _

_"Learn your vows!" cried the local temple priest. _

_Embarrassed and frightened Makito ran out of the estate. He ran into the woods, knowing that already people would be gossiping about him. Eventually he stopped running and began to walk. As he walked in the dark snow blanketed woods he tried practicing his vows. He walked past an abandoned graveyard and finally stopped at an old oak tree. _

"_It's useless!" he cried. Then he remembered he still had the panda lily. He pulled it from his robe and admired it. He thought of his sweet Misora and began to recite his vows in perfection. Finally he pulled the ring out of his sleeve and placed it open a finger shaped stick in the ground. _

"_With this ring, I ask you to be mine!" he cried._

_Suddenly crows began circle and fly from trees. The ground shook and then a hand gripped Makito's arm. He gave a cry and jerked away taking it with him. The ground began to rupture and rising from it was a feminine figure robed in a tattered white kimono and equally tattered long veil. The arm that remained attached lifted the veil revealing a beautiful if not horrifying face. She slowly whispered: "I do"_

_Makito shook the arm off and ran into the night. The Corpse Bride followed him taking her skeletal arm with her. One arm still had flesh, while on leg was skeletal and another was intact. Her kimono was ripped to reveal snow white ribs, a hole in her cheeks revealed teeth. She had tangled dark hair and wore fine geta. _

_Makito ran farther into the woods. He ran into a tree, hitting his head. He passed out briefly, but awoke to see the Corpse Bride coming towards him, he continued his chased. He stepped onto the frozen river, slipping about, but he ran he made it onto the bank and ran out of the woods. _

_Finally, he was on the bridge. Ahead of him stood the Temple. He was safe. Then he turned around and saw standing before him the Corpse Bride before him! She grabbed his shoulders and said to him: "You may kiss the bride!" Then all went black._

_When Makito woke, the bride stood over him. Around her were all sorts of corpse in varying states of decay. A maggot popped out of the bride's eye socket, making her eye jettison from her head. Frightened, Makito demanded to know where he was and what was going on._

"_It's a long story," The Bride said looking down._

"_And what a story it is!" Said a skeleton with only one eye._

"_A tale of passion, romance, and a murder most foul!"_

_The skeleton proceeded to tell Makito how the Corpse Bride had once been a well-known beauty who had fallen in love with a charming man who had no money. When her father forbid her to see him they decided to elope. The night they were to meet she took the family jewels and a satchel of gold. She waited for hours until a man in the shadows murdered her and took her money. Now she waited for her true love to come and marry her, even though she was dead. Apparently Makito was this man. He had married the Corpse Bride and in The Land of the Dead with her."_

"You mean the spirit world?" Aang asked.

"No, no. The Land of the Dead is the afterlife. Being the Avatar, I'm sure you'd know." Iroh said with a chuckle.

"_Meanwhile those who remained in The Land of the Living were absolutely worried! Where could he have gone? Poor Misora sat worrying while her and Makito's parents drank tea. Just then, Lord Baku entered the room with the Town Crier. The Town Crier reported that Makito had been seen with a dark-haired woman._

"_Woman! Victor doesn't know any women!" cried his mother._

"_Or so you thought." Lord Baku said._

"_Do call if you need my assistance. In anything at all,"_

_After Lord Baku left, Makito's mother begged that The Noble family let her and his father search for him. They agreed, giving them until dawn._

_Meanwhile the Corpse Bride was searching for Makito, who had slipped away from her. The maggot popped from her eye socket to help her look. He spotted Makito._

"_There he is! He's getting away!"_

_She chased after him and Makito took off, crying: "Help! There's been a mistake! I'm not dead!"_

"_Makito!" she cried._

_Makito hid in a coffin, but was surprised by a black widow spider, who gave away his hiding place. He continued to run until he found a wall. He began to climb it in hopes of escaping. When he reached the top he grabbed for something, but found it to be The Corpse Bride's leg! She kindly pulled him up and laughed saying: " You could have used the stairs!"_

_He watched her spin about, as she gushed about the beauty of the view. She sat down upon a bench and bid him to sit. He did so, and said: "I am terribly sorry about what has happened to you, and I wish I could help but I need to get home!"_

"_But you are home now!" She said.  
_

_The Corpse Bride told him her name was Emiri. Then she gave him a wedding present._

_It was a box full of bones but soon the bones formed into the skeleton of a dog. By strange coincidence the dead dog was his very own childhood pet Scraps. The pair continued to speak until Makito suggested that they go to The Land of the Living to visit his parents. Now he could escape!_

_So they went to Elder Gakushi who cast a spell on them to visit the Land of the Living. Emiri hadn't been there in a long time, so when she saw the glowing light of the moon, tears welled in her eyes. In her mirth, she began to dance about, pleased to see the butterflies, the moon, and even the snow. After a while Makito told her to wait where she was so he could prepare his parents for the news. He ran to Misora's house and snuck in through her window. There he found her, sewing. She sat him down and fussed over him until he said to her:_

"_I must admit that I feared this union, but upon meeting you, I fear it no longer!" _

_She declared the same and as they moved in to kiss, Makito saw a terrifying thing. Emiri was climbing through the window! The wind blew and she stood before them adjusting her veil._

_"Misora I seem to find myself married!" cried Makito in panic._

_"It was entirely an accident!" _

"_Makito my love!" she said. _  
"_I was worried!"_

_Then she saw Misora._

"_My love who is his?" Emiri asked._

"_Who's she?" asked Misora._

"_I'm his wife!" declared Emiri._

_Misora looked terrified. But Makito grabbed Emiri's arm and said:  
"Misora, you don't understand! She's dead!"_

_Enraged Emiri said the spell to return to The Land of the Dead and took Makito with her._

"_You lied!" cried Emiri._

"_Just to return to that wench!"_

_She began to weep in distress, so much so her eye popped out. Makito tried to calm her but it was of no use. Eventually he said:_

"_I would never marry you!"_

_Devastated Emiri ran away. _

_She sat by herself weeping. The Spider and The Maggot tried to cheer her, but it was of no use. Her heart was broken._

_Above, where the living resided, no one believed Misora. They called her insane and locked her in her room. But she slipped out the window, cloaked in her blanket. She went to the Temple Priest but he only brought her back to her house where she was locked in her room again._

"_Makito needs our help!" she cried._

_Once she was gone Lord Baku came to the parents and told them that he wished he could have a woman like Misora, for he was once betrothed, but tragedy stole his bride away. They promised Misora to Lord Baku and went to Misora to tell her the news. Never the less, she was horrified._

_But Baku's intentions were not romantic. He intended to murder Misora!_

_Makito felt terrible about Emiri. He found her playing the Koto. He tried to speak to her but she refused to listen. Eventually he picked up the picked the spare Koto beside her and they both began to play, dueling with music. In a ecstasy, her hand broke off and began to play again. Just then a new arrival to the Land of the Dead came along. It was a servant of Makito's parents. He had died that very night. He told Makito that Misora was to wed. Heartbroken, Makito left to be by himself._

_Emiri herself was saddened by Makito's melancholy and went to ask advice of some other corpses. Gakushi found her and informed her that her marriage was null. If Makito was alive and she was dead then she had no claim over him! They only way it would work was if he killed himself. Makito overheard them and felt so guilty he told Emiri he would do it._

_Meanwhile, Misora had been forced into a bridal robe of exquisite cream silk. Her parents forcibly wed her to Lord Baku. She had never felt so lost._

_The dead were overjoyed at the prospect of Emiri and Makito's union. They prepared happily for the nuptial and then went up to the Land of the Living to perform the ceremony. _

_The dead came and frightened Baku and Misora's wedding party gleefully. But soon, everyone realized that these ghouls were in fact their loved ones! In a happy reunion both the dead and the living journeyed to the temple to perform the ritual._

_Lord Baku was outraged though. He learned his bride had no money, for that was what he truly wanted. Pleased to see his disappointment Misora left the estate. She followed the macabre wedding party and soon learned it was Makito's wedding._

_Makito performed his vows perfectly. Emiri was happy, but as she performed her vows and poured him a goblet of poison, she saw Misora. She saw the heartbroken girl and began to feel terrible._

"_This is wrong," she said._

"_I cannot do this. I was a bride once. But my dreams were taken from me. Now I am about to take them from someone else. I love you Makito, but you are not mine!"_

_She beckoned Misora forward and joined Misora and Makito's hands together. Just then Lord Baku arrived. Emiri recognized him. He was her betrothed! He had murdered her!  
"You!" she cried._

"_Emiri! But I left you!" he said._

"_For dead!" she whispered. He denied it and tried to take Misora with him, but Makito challenged him to a duel. A corpse handed Makito a sword, Baku drew his, and they fought. When he nearly killed Makito, Emiri stepped in front of the sword letting it pierce her. She drew it from her ribs and pointed at Baku._

"_Get out," she hissed._

"_I shall! But first a toast to thee! You shall never wed!" He cried._

"_Tell me, can a heart still break after it's stopped beating?"  
With that he sipped from the goblet she'd poured for Makito. The poison killed him and as soon as the dead saw this, they dragged him to the Land of the Dead to give him an eternity of torture._

_Misora and Makito held eachother._

"_I never thought I'd see you again," Misora said._

_Emiri, began to walk away but Makito stopped her._

"_I made a promise," He murmured._

"_You kept it she said giving him the betrothal ring and folding it within his hand._

"_You set me free. Now I can do the same for you,"_

_With that she left the temple and with a blissful smile, faced the moon. Then she dissolved into thousands of blue and white butterflies which rose up towards the moon. She was never seen again, finally set free,"_

Iroh sat back and wiped away a tear. That story was the most touching story he'd ever heard. He heard a small sob and saw Katara, wiping her eyes. Zuko had a hand on her back and it seemed he was attempting to comfort her.

"That was very sad and beautiful," she sniffed.

"It was," Iroh agreed.

"Not all ghost tales are frightening. Some just rend the heart,"


	29. Tears To Shed Sung by a Special Trio!

**I know thay don't have pianos in avatar land. Remember it's just a song. And this is just a fic. And it's not as crappy as some of the excuses of fanfiction you sometimes find. Remember Alucard+Zuko Major fangirling! Song is from Corpse Bride!  
**

* * *

They all sat in silence thinking of the poor bride. Finally Katara whispered: "I know a song that reminds me of her. But I'll need help singing it. Sokka knows it and I just taught it to Toph the other day. Do you want to hear it?" 

"Of course!" Iroh said smiling.

"Sokka you start it," Katara said.

Sokka and Toph grouped in close to Katara and Sokka began to sing:

"_What does that wispy little brat have that you don't have double?"  
"She can't hold a candle to the beauty of your smile!"_ Sang Toph in a delicate alto.

"_How about a pulse?" _Katara said stiffly.

"_Overrated by a mile!" _Sokka scoffed.

"_Overbearing," _Toph sang

"_Overblown," _Added Sokka.

Then the pair sang together:

"_If he only knew the you that we know!,"_

"_And that silly little creature isn't wearing his ring!" _Sang Toph.

"_And she doesn't play piano," _Sokka sang.

"_Or Dance"_ Sang both Toph and Sokka.

"_Or sing!" _sang Sokka.

"_No she doesn't compare!" _They sang.

"_But she still breathes air!" _Katara pouted.

Toph: _"Who cares?"  
_Sokka: _"Unimportant" _

Toph: _"Overrated"_

Sokka: _"Overblown"_

Toph and Sokka: _"If only he could see how special you can be._

_If he only knew the you that we know!_

Then Katara sang her solo:

"_If I touch a burning candle I can feel no pain. If you cut me with a knife it's still the same._

_And I know her heart is beating. And I know that I am dead_

_Yet the pain here that I feel_

_Try and tell me it's not real_

_For it seems that I still have a tear to shed,"_

Sokka: _"The sole redeeming feature of that little creature is that she's alive!"_

Toph: _"Overrated"_

Sokka: _"Overblown"_

Toph: _Everybody knows that's just a temporary state,_

_which is cured very quickly when we meet our fate._

Sokka: _"Who cares?"_

Toph: _"Unimportant,"_

Sokka: _"Overrated"_

Toph: _"Overblown"_

Toph and Sokka:_ "If only he could see how special you can be._

_If he only knew the you that we know!_

Then Katara sang her last solo:

"_If I touch a burning candle I can feel no pain. In the ice or in the sun it's all the same. Yet, I feel my heart is aching. Though it doesn't beat it's breaking. And the pain here that I feel, try and tell me it's not real._

_I know that I am dead, yet it seems that I still have some tears to shed."_

They finished the song.

"I heard the song in Ba Sing Se, sung by a traveling minstrel. She explained to me that the song was about a Corpse who was in love with a man. But the man loved another woman who was alive. The Corpse's friends are trying to cheer her, but it isn't working," Katara explained.

"It's such a sad song," Zuko said softly.

"Her words, they speak the truth."

Upon hearing Zuko's own sad words, Katara moved closer to him and lightly clasped his hand. Sokka didn't see her do it, nor did Aang. Sokka, Aang and Toph were all in deep discussion about the song. Only Iroh saw it, but this time he looked away and joined the conversation.

'Let them be' He thought to himself.

So Zuko and Katara sat holding hands, two unlikely people brought together by the lament of a dead girl, sung to the waterbender by a mysterious minstrel.


	30. Buried Alive

**Hey folks, two more days until the story is over! It's been fun! Now I can finish my Toph story soon! This story I got from playing the MAKE YOUR OWN HORROR STORY GAME at a cool website.**

* * *

Zuko and Katara quickly let go of each other so they wouldn't be caught.

"Uncle, do you remember the story you told me, when we first left home?" He asked. He had to word that delicately. Zuko did not like to discuss his exile or his ill-fated hunt for the Avatar (especially around the Avatar himself).

"I told you many!" Iroh laughed softly.

"I was thinking about the one about the girl who got herself buried alive," Zuko said softly.

"The one from the Earth Kingdom. I always liked that one because the girl reminded me of Azula. Back then I would've loved it if Azula was buried alive."

Iroh chuckled. At times he too would have loved to see his wicked niece buried alive, but he couldn't say that aloud, could he?

"_There was once a girl named Kiki. She was a very frightened girl. She was afraid of everything, from the wail of the wind to snakes. But most of all she feared being buried alive. She had few friends, but most of them understood why she was so afraid. One girl named Hikata however thought that Kiki was very foolish and was determined to show the girl just how foolish her fear was._

_Hikata was a trickster. She decided she would pretend to be dead. Only Kiki would know she wasn't however, because she told Kiki, that for a laugh she was going to fake her death. During the funeral, Hikata would make noise from inside the coffin, making Kiki cry out: "She's not dead!"_

_Hikata would let them lower the coffin into the grave, while Kiki cried out against the burial. Then Hikata would pop out of the grave and yell: "Gotcha!" and everyone would laugh, especially at Kiki and her silly fears. _

_Hikata made herself a potion out of an herb that would give her the appearance of death. She would be alive and breathing, but look dead. She drank the potion and let it do it's work. The next morning Hikata's mother visited Kiki's house, lamenting that her daughter had died in the night of a mysterious illness. Kiki felt her heart in her throat, this trick didn't seem very funny at all!_

_That day, Hikata's funeral was held. Everyone went except Kiki who had fallen very ill and could not speak. She tried to write out her message but was too delirious, she fell into a deep sleep._

_During the funeral, everyone mourned very loudly for poor Hikata. Near the end of the ceremony Hikata started to bang on the coffin and shout. She did not know that Kiki was home sick, so she was confused when she didn't hear Kiki's panicked voice. _

_The pallbearers picked up the coffin and made there way down to the cemetery. Hikata continued to bang on her coffin lid and shout. She kicked and yelled, but no one could hear above the loud mourning. She could not lift the lid, for she wasn't very strong at all. She didn't even think to try to lift it, for she panicked so. _

_They began to lower the coffin into the dirt. Hikata screamed for them to stop. She could not be heard of the sound of dirt being shoveled on the coffin nor could she be heard above the mourners. Kiki was not there to tell everyone the truth. It was too late for Hikata to be saved and she was buried alive."  
_ "Wow that was creepy," Sokka said.

"I never feared being buried alive," Toph said.

"I could always bend myself out."

"From inside a coffin?" Katara asked.

"I told my parents I'm to be buried inside a stone coffin. No wood for me," Toph said.

"I can bend myself out of a stoned coffin,"

So the youths began to discuss the merits of stone coffins and wood coffins, while Iroh sat back and chuckled to himself. He had never seen the group get along so well.

"Spirit's Night does funny things to the disposition," He thought.


	31. The Blue Ribbon

**Okay tomorrow is the final threshold. I will update the last story and the ending chapter! I love you all, honestly. Plus I'm not counting who's turn it is. It's a pain in my ass. I took the name Ayla from _Clan of the Cave Bear. _Though this story is from the north it doesn't mention betrothal necklaces because when Gran Gran told it, she was still hiding her past.**

* * *

"Enough chatter!" Iroh laughed.

"I would like to hear another story. Perhaps Young Master Sokka would like to tell one?"

"I would!" Sokka declared.

"Oh Sokka tell the one about the blue ribbon, the one Gran-Gran told us!" Katara exclaimed gripping his arm.

"Alright, alright! I'll tell that one!" He said humoring his baby sister.

_"In the north, there was a pretty young woman named Ayla._ _She was smart, a hard worker and very charming but she had one strange habit. She always wore a dark blue silk ribbon around her neck. Her father had brought it from the Earth Kingdom. For as long as anyone could remember she had worn it. _

_One young man named Amaq who had a bit of a crush on her. To his luck, she had the same feelings for him. One day as they sat upon a bench carved of ice he asked:_

"_Why do you always wear that ribbon?"_

"_I cannot tell you that for it is a secret," she said softly._

"_Can you untie it for me?" He asked._

"_No I cannot," she replied._

_ A year passed and they married. On the wedding night, he asked her to remove the ribbon again. Once again she said:_

"_I cannot remove my ribbon,"_

_Years passed. Every so often, Amaq would ask his wife to remove the ribbon. Ayla would always say "No, I cannot,"_

_Amaq and Ayla became very old. One day Ayla fell very ill. She knew she was going to die. So she beckoned her husband to her and said:_

"_I will now show you why I could not remove my beloved blue ribbon. Untie it and you will see my dark secret," _

_Amaq pulled the ribbon gently and untied it. As soon as he did, Ayla's head fell off."_

Katara sat still. That story terrified her when she was five or six. She guessed 8 or 9 years later the scare had worn off.

"It doesn't scare me like it used to." She sighed.

"I know," Sokka said.

"It's just not as scary as it was when we were kids."

Behind Katara, Aang was staring at the clasp of her necklace fixedly. He reached for it, and undid the clasp then pulled it away.

Katara turned around and stared at him with wide eyes.

"What are you doing?" she asked.

"Trying to see if your head would fall off," he asked innocently.

"Sit down and give me my necklace," Katara growled.

After she clasped it back on, Iroh gave a long sigh.

"I think it's been a long night. Time for one last story,"


	32. Iroh's Double Fright

**Last Story! Sorry it's late, I had a wild night… Oo Here are tow special Japanese Horror tales told by our favorite Tea-Addict Iroh!**

* * *

"Who wants to tell tonight's last story?" Aang asked.

"What about you?" Sokka asked.

"You are the Avatar after all."

"No," Aang said.

"I don't really want to tell anymore. The Monks didn't have any scary stories and most of Bumi's stories always end with everyone getting eaten by pink and purple pandas,"

Katara and Sokka snickered.

"I want to hear Iroh tell the last one," Toph said.

"He started the night with a story, he should finish it,"

Iroh's chubby cheeks glowed with pride. Among his many talents, including lightening bending and tea-making, story telling was certainly one of them.

"What sort of story to finish the night?" Iroh wondered aloud.

"Ahhh here's a good one,"

"_Long ago, there was a maid named Okiku. Her master was madly in love with her and begged her to become his lover. She refused. Her Master was enraged that she refused a man such as him. So he decided to give her a task that would trick her into becoming his mistress. The Master had Ten plates from Ba Sing Se. He told her that she had to watch them make sure nothing happened. He hid one of the plates where she could never find it and accused her of losing it. But he would forgive Okiku if she became his lover. When she refused again her killed her then threw her body down a well. To this day, every night, her ghost rises from the well to count the plates. When she only counts nine, for the tenth cannot be found, she gives a heartbroken wail and swoops back down into the well!" _

Iroh finished his story.

"After I told Lu Ten that story for the first time he went searching for that plate. He insisted it was his destiny to find the ghost's plate. However, what Zuko did was much funnier!" Iroh laughed.

"Uncle don't say it!" Zuko groaned.

"Zuko would take plates from the crockery cabinet and throw them down the well in the Kitchen Courtyard crying out: "Don't cry Okiku! Take these plates! Now you can be free!" Iroh chuckled.

Everyone laughed as Zuko turned as red a cherry.

"That's so cute!" Katara gushed.

"Let's hear one more!"  
_"There was a young vain woman who was having an affair. Her husband in his jealousy took a knife an slit her mouth from ear to year. Then he asked: "Who'll find you beautiful now!"_

_After, the woman left and began to wander the world wearing a mask over her mouth. On foggy night if she met someone on a lonely road she would ask: "Am I beautiful?" If the person said "Yes" she would rip off mask and screaming her question again. The victim would try to run but she'd chase them down. If it was a man she would kill them, if it was a woman, she would mutilate them the same way she was, so they too would wander the world in the same manner,"_

Iroh sipped his tea. Everyone looked frightened.

"I think we have all scared ourselves enough for tonight. Time for bed," he said.

Wholeheartedly everyone agreed, no longer wishing to be frightened by tales of vengeful spirits and other beastly things.


	33. Ending Chapter

**Here's a bonus for you folks!**

* * *

Everyone was in there respective sleeping places. However not a one of them, could sleep. Each one was sure that outside there tents were vengeful deformed ghosts, a man with horribly long fingernails, a lunatic looking for her dead baby, The Wen Di Go, A mutilated woman with a knife, and god knows what else. The only two who slept were Appa and Momo.

Katara crawled out of her sleeping bag. She could not sleep alone. She crept into the nearest tent she could see, to find Zuko lying awake.

The pair blushed at eachother's presence and finally she said:

"I'm scared. Can I stay with you?"

Zuko couldn't refuse those big blue eyes and let her curl up next him. Before they could fall asleep, the heard rustling, Aang had crept into the tent. He couldn't sleep and needed to stay with someone.

"Can I stay here?" He asked.

"Fine," Zuko growled.

Aang curled up next to Katara so she was sandwiched by the two boys.

Less than five minutes later, Sokka entered the tent. He didn't want to be alone (though he wouldn't say so). So holding back his anger at the fact Zuko had an arm flopped over his little sister he lay down next to Aang an promptly fell asleep.

Soon Toph came into the tent. Though she wouldn't admit it, she was scared. So seeing Sokka sleeping next to Aang, she squeezed between the young warrior and the Avatar and rested her head on Sokka's shoulder.

Then, finally Iroh came in. He chuckled at the sight of all the kids curled up like kittens. He didn't want to be alone either, though he was an adult and was supposedly too old to be scared.

He lay down next to his nephew, close enough so, when Zuko woke in the morning he'd be one traumatized Prince.

"Goodnight everybody," He murmured.

"And Happy Spirit's Night,"


End file.
